Amber Comer is an associate professor of health sciences and medicine who holds faculty appointments in the School of Health & Human Sciences, Department of Health Sciences, and the School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine. Comer is affiliate faculty in the School of Medicine, Center for Bioethics, the RESPECT Center, and the Regenstrief Institute.
Comer also holds an adjunct faculty appointment in the McKinney School of Law. In addition to her faculty appointments, Comer serves on the Eskenazi Hospital medical ethics committee and ethics consultation service. She is also a member of the Indiana University Health Palliative Care Clinical Effectiveness Council and the Goals of Care Clinical Effectiveness Council. Comer serves on the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine public policy committee and is the current past chair of the bioethics sig.
Comer is a palliative care researcher and bioethicist who is an expert in medical decision making for hospitalized patients with critical illness. Comer’s sub focus is neuropalliative care. Her work has been nationally recognized and has been cited in clinical practice guidelines and played a role in changing Indiana’s Health-care Consent Law.
She teaches Ethical Issues in Medical Decision Making, Bioethics and the Law, Ethical Issues in Medical Decision Making in Popular Film, Introduction to Palliative Care, and Health System Delivery.
Comer has received numerous awards for her work, including being a finalist for Indy’s Best and Brightest (2023), and receiving an Early Career Achievement award from the Indiana University School of Law (2018). Her teaching has been recognized through receipt of the Indiana University trustees’ teaching award (2023) as well as the Indiana University School of Health & Human Sciences emerging teaching award (2018). Comer was selected as an American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine research scholar (2018).
Comer holds a Ph.D. from the Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health with a minor in bioethics, a J.D. from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law with a concentration in health law, and she completed a medical ethics fellowship at the Indiana University Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics. She is a member of the Indiana State Bar.
