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Research
Bioethics scholarship draws on the work of many disciplines including anthropology, economics, history, law, literature, medicine, nursing, philosophy, psychology, sociology and theology. It uses conceptual and empirical social science approaches to evaluate the reasons and arguments used in making ethical judgments.
Our goal is to address these issues with methodological rigor rather than to advocate for a particular moral or political position. Bioethics can inform regulations and policies at institutional, state and national levels but most bioethicists are not policy makers.
Our research focuses on the interface between population and individual concerns. We are interested in issues related to allocation and prioritization of health-care resources, and we study these issues as they relate to policy development and the clinical impact of integrating new technologies for diagnosis and treatment. We pay particular attention to how these issues relate to parental decision making and chronic illness.
Current research projects
Children with Disabilities
How should we promote the interests of children with profound cognitive disabilities and their families?
Continuous ethics improvement
How do we measure — and what interventions can improve — ethics quality in an institutional setting?
Genetic testing in children
As the number of potential genetic tests expands what criteria should be used to decide the tests that children receive?
Global health
How should we promote the participation of adolescents who live in resource poor settings in health related decision-making, particularly in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic?
Research recruitment
How much influence is appropriate for researchers to assert when enrolling families in research studies?
