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Institute for Bioethics logo
Daniel E. Hall

Daniel E. Hall, MD, MDiv, MHSc

Core Faculty

Professional Statement

Dr. Hall is a tenured Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, Staff Surgeon at the VA Pittsburgh and Core Investigator at the VA Center for Healthcare Evaluation, Research and Promotion. He is an active general surgeon with training in health services research, quality improvement, moral philosophy and theology. In administrative and research roles he manages a variety of quality improvement initiatives aimed at improving high-value, goal-concordant care. His diverse portfolio of work aims at developing reliable systems of healthcare delivery that are both technically excellent and directed toward the normative good of human flourishing, conceptualized as the well-functioning of the whole person as appropriate to each patient’s vocation. Clinical interests focus on both minimally invasive and robotic surgery, frailty, shared decision-making and surgical palliative care. Current research focuses on improving the decision-making and preoperative care of frail patients scheduled for elective and urgent surgery. Other research focuses on defining and predicting trajectories of postoperative recovery and long-term loss of independence after surgery—all in order to better inform shared decision-making between patient and surgeon. He is also the Pittsburgh faculty champion for the Good Surgeon, a year-long curriculum aimed at fostering dialogue among surgical trainees focused on the resources and practices available to shape the character of surgeons-in-training and how best to form the virtues necessary for good surgical practice.

Dr. Hall earned degrees in medicine and theology from Yale University before completing his surgical training at the University of Pittsburgh and joining the faculty in 2007. He is also an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church with interests in the theology of medicine. He has a proven track record of mentoring students, residents and junior faculty, many of whom have won research awards at prestigious surgical conferences. Further details about the projects, data sources and opportunities available through Dr. Hall’s lab can be found here.

Appointments

  • Professor Department of Surgery School of Medicine
  • Medical Director Surgical Pause Program, National Surgery Office U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Core Investigator Center for Healthcare Evaluation, Research, and Promotion VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System
  • Core Faculty Institute for Bioethics Assisting Episcopal Priest
  • Assisting Episcopal Priest First Lutheran Church Pittsburgh

Education and Training

  • Robotic Surgery Training, Florida Hospital-Celebration, 2014
  • Post Doctoral Research Fellowship, Duke University, 2002-2005
  • General Surgery Residency, UPMC, 1999-2007
  • MHSc, Duke University, 2005
  • MD, Yale School of Medicine, 1996
  • MDiv, Yale Divinity School, 1996
  • BA, Yale College, 1991

Professional Interests in Bioethics

Representative Publications

  1. Curlin FA, & Hall DE. Strangers or friends? A proposal for a new spirituality-in-medicine ethic [published correction appears in J Gen Intern Med. 2005 May;20(5):485. J Gen Intern Med. 2005;20(4):370-374. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.04110.x. PMID: 15857497. PMCID: PMC1490093.

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  2. Hall DE, Prochazka AV, & Fink AS. Informed consent for clinical treatment. CMAJ. 2012;184(5):533-540. doi:10.1503/cmaj.112120. PMID: 22392947. PMCID: PMC3307558.

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  3. Hall DE. The guild of surgeons as a tradition of moral enquiry. J Med Philos. 2011;36(2):114-132 doi:10.1093/jmp/jhr005. PMID: 21576372. PMCID: PMC8845089.

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  4. Hall DE, Feske U, Hanusa BH, Ling BS, Stone RA, Gao S, Switzer GE, Dobalian A, Fine MJ, & Arnold RM. Prioritizing initiatives for Institutional Review Board (IRB) quality improvement. AJOB Empir Bioeth. 2016; 7(4):265-274.

  5. Hall, DE. We can do better: why pastoral care visitation to hospitals is essential especially in times of crisis. J Relig Health. 2020;59(5):2283-2287. doi:10.1007/s10943-020-01072-x. PMID: 32734516 PMCID: PMC7392121.

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  6. Murphy A, Schultz KC, Gao S, Morales AM, Barnato AE, Fanning JB, Hall DE. Prudence in end-of-life decision making: a virtue-based analysis of physician communication with patients and surrogates. SSMQR. 2022;2:100182. doi:10.1016/j.ssmqr.2022.100182. PMID: 36582622. PMCID: PMC9797053.

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Recent Funding

  • VA HSR&D 1I01HX003322, Improving surgical decision-making by measuring and predicting long-term loss of independence after surgery, Principal Investigator, 2021-2026
  • VA QUERI I50 HX004156, Inpatient Safer Aging through Geriatrics-Informed Evidence-Based Practices (iSAGE), Principal Investigator (multiple), 2020-2030
  • Kern National Network for Flourishing in Medicine, Translating the KNN Framework into Muslim Contexts-A Graduate Fellow Award, Primary Mentor, 2025-2028

Awards and Honors

  • American Surgical Association, 2025
  • Under Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research, 2024
  • The John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Achievement at the National Level, 2023

Media