WelcomeI am a philosophically trained bioethicist and clinical ethics consultant with experience in diverse institutional contexts in the US.
Broadly, my research and teaching focus on how clinical settings can render people vulnerable. My specializations include disability bioethics and psychiatric ethics. |
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About Me
I received my Ph.D. in philosophy from Georgetown University in 2017, where I was fortunate to have ample opportunities to explore the field of bioethics and gain practical experience through a variety of internships and consultant positions in the DC area. I completed a series of training programs in clinical ethics consultation, and I became Healthcare Ethics Consultant-Certified (HEC-C) in 2020.
I began my career as a clinical ethicist in 2015 at MedStar Washington Hospital Center (Washington, DC), and in 2017 I joined faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and served as a clinical ethicist for UAMS Health and Arkansas Children's Hospital (Little Rock, AR) for five years. I begin a new position as an Associate-level Clinical Ethicist at Cleveland Clinic starting in June 2022.
My clinical work primarily consists of rounding throughout the hospitals, offering ethics education to different clinical groups and units, providing 24/7 ethics consultation on an individual model, developing and revising policies, contributing to ethical climate, and leading QI/QA and data collection projects for the ethics service. I chaired policy subcommittees for hospital ethics committees for 7 years. As a consulting clinical ethicist, I work collaboratively to find ethically supportable resolutions in cases as diverse as those dealing with end of life decisions, complex pregnancies, code status, and religious objections to treatment, among others. (See more under Ethics Consultation.)
I am passionate about teaching bioethics with undergraduates, graduate students, students across the health professions, and clinicians. While at UAMS, I was the course director for Genetic Counseling Ethics, Caring for Vulnerable Patients, Death & Dying, and Physician Assistant Medical Ethics. I often serve as an invited lecturer for other courses, where I discuss complex cases and issues around bias and vulnerability in healthcare. (See more under Teaching.)
My research focuses on psychiatric ethics, disability bioethics, vulnerability in clinical settings, the interaction between institutional structures and autonomous agency, and quality standards in ethics consultation. In 2020, I contributed to numerous projects related to COVID-19, including national guidelines through the Hastings Center. I co-authored Basics of Bioethics, Fourth Edition (Routledge, 2020) with my teacher and mentor, Robert M. Veatch. I co-edited Moral Expertise: New Essays from Theoretical and Clinical Bioethics (Springer, 2018) with Jamie Carlin Watson and Applying Nonideal Theory to Bioethics: Living and Dying in a Nonideal World (Springer, 2021) with Elizabeth Victor. I have articles in Hastings Center Report, Journal of Medical Ethics, Nursing Ethics, Journal of Clinical Ethics, Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, AMA Journal of Ethics, and others. (See more under Research).
In terms of service, I am passionate about DEI work (that is, work related to diversity, equity, and inclusion), and I have led educational initiatives around LGBTQ+ patient care, disability, and implicit bias in medicine. At a national level, I am a co-founder and co-chair for the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Affinity Group of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, and I serve on the ASBH Conference Program Committee.
Outside of work, I love spending time with my dogs and partner, reading fiction, attending the theatre, and seeing as much of the world as I can. The header of each page of this website includes photography from my travels.
I began my career as a clinical ethicist in 2015 at MedStar Washington Hospital Center (Washington, DC), and in 2017 I joined faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and served as a clinical ethicist for UAMS Health and Arkansas Children's Hospital (Little Rock, AR) for five years. I begin a new position as an Associate-level Clinical Ethicist at Cleveland Clinic starting in June 2022.
My clinical work primarily consists of rounding throughout the hospitals, offering ethics education to different clinical groups and units, providing 24/7 ethics consultation on an individual model, developing and revising policies, contributing to ethical climate, and leading QI/QA and data collection projects for the ethics service. I chaired policy subcommittees for hospital ethics committees for 7 years. As a consulting clinical ethicist, I work collaboratively to find ethically supportable resolutions in cases as diverse as those dealing with end of life decisions, complex pregnancies, code status, and religious objections to treatment, among others. (See more under Ethics Consultation.)
I am passionate about teaching bioethics with undergraduates, graduate students, students across the health professions, and clinicians. While at UAMS, I was the course director for Genetic Counseling Ethics, Caring for Vulnerable Patients, Death & Dying, and Physician Assistant Medical Ethics. I often serve as an invited lecturer for other courses, where I discuss complex cases and issues around bias and vulnerability in healthcare. (See more under Teaching.)
My research focuses on psychiatric ethics, disability bioethics, vulnerability in clinical settings, the interaction between institutional structures and autonomous agency, and quality standards in ethics consultation. In 2020, I contributed to numerous projects related to COVID-19, including national guidelines through the Hastings Center. I co-authored Basics of Bioethics, Fourth Edition (Routledge, 2020) with my teacher and mentor, Robert M. Veatch. I co-edited Moral Expertise: New Essays from Theoretical and Clinical Bioethics (Springer, 2018) with Jamie Carlin Watson and Applying Nonideal Theory to Bioethics: Living and Dying in a Nonideal World (Springer, 2021) with Elizabeth Victor. I have articles in Hastings Center Report, Journal of Medical Ethics, Nursing Ethics, Journal of Clinical Ethics, Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, AMA Journal of Ethics, and others. (See more under Research).
In terms of service, I am passionate about DEI work (that is, work related to diversity, equity, and inclusion), and I have led educational initiatives around LGBTQ+ patient care, disability, and implicit bias in medicine. At a national level, I am a co-founder and co-chair for the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Affinity Group of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, and I serve on the ASBH Conference Program Committee.
Outside of work, I love spending time with my dogs and partner, reading fiction, attending the theatre, and seeing as much of the world as I can. The header of each page of this website includes photography from my travels.