Dr. Mary C. Beach

Mary Catherine Beach is a professor of medicine, with a joint appointment in the Center for Health Equity and the Berman Institute of Bioethics, at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Beach’s research focuses on humanizing healthcare by promoting respect for patients as well as improved patient-clinician communication. Much of her work has been targeted towards improving healthcare quality for patients who face systemic disadvantage and in the setting of HIV/AIDS and sickle cell disease (SCD). Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Greenwall Foundation. Dr. Beach has won numerous awards for her scholarship and mentorship, including the Jozien Bensing Research Award from the European Association for Communication in Healthcare (EACH) in 2010. She also is the 2017 recipient of the George L. Engel Award for outstanding research contributing to the theory, practice and teaching of effective healthcare communication and related skills. In recognition of her outstanding mentorship, she was awarded the 2018 David M. Levine Excellence in Mentoring Award given by the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine has also honored Dr. Beach with the Daniel Nathans Scientific Innovator Award, and has named Dr. Beach a Mary & David Gallo CIM Scholar. In 2022, Dr. Beach was elected as a Fellow in the Hastings Center. At Johns Hopkins, Dr. Beach serves as Co-Chair of an Institutional Review Board (IRB-3), Chair of the Executive IRB, and Director of the Office of Medical Student Research & Scholarship.