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
In June 2022, I began a new position as an Associate Staff Ethicist at Cleveland Clinic's Center for Bioethics in Ohio. I serve main campus as well as regional hospitals, and I have additional responsibilities at Lutheran Hospital and Marymount Hospital. I have an embedded role in the gender-affirming care teams. My primary academic appointment is in the Department of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine as a clinical assistant professor, and my secondary appointment is in the Department of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
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.
My clinical work primarily consists of consulting on ethical issues that arise in the course of patient care, rounding on different units, offering ethics education to different clinical groups and units, reviewing policies, contributing to ethical climate, and contributing to 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, involuntary treatment, 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. I regularly lead educational sessions for a range of trainees and services, including clinical social work, nursing, physicians, nutrition, and others. I currently co-chair Cleveland Clinic Bioethics Grand Rounds. In Spring 2024, I will create a new course for Case Western Reserve University for baccalaureate students, medical students, and graduate students, Disability Bioethics. 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, which is now under contract for a fifth edition. 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. I serve on the Clinical Transformations DEI Council and am a member of ClinicPride. In 2023, my colleagues and I received an internal grant for our project, "Interprofessional Training to Improve End of Life Care for LGBTQ+ Patient Populations at the Cleveland Clinic," which will include development of a new educational module and simulation-based experience for caregivers. At a national level, I am currently co-chair of the ASBH Disability Ethics Affinity Group, and I was previously a co-founder and co-chair for the ASBH Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Affinity Group. I served on the ASBH Conference Program Committee for three years and currently serve on the ASBH Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Webinar Series Task Force.
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 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.
My clinical work primarily consists of consulting on ethical issues that arise in the course of patient care, rounding on different units, offering ethics education to different clinical groups and units, reviewing policies, contributing to ethical climate, and contributing to 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, involuntary treatment, 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. I regularly lead educational sessions for a range of trainees and services, including clinical social work, nursing, physicians, nutrition, and others. I currently co-chair Cleveland Clinic Bioethics Grand Rounds. In Spring 2024, I will create a new course for Case Western Reserve University for baccalaureate students, medical students, and graduate students, Disability Bioethics. 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, which is now under contract for a fifth edition. 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. I serve on the Clinical Transformations DEI Council and am a member of ClinicPride. In 2023, my colleagues and I received an internal grant for our project, "Interprofessional Training to Improve End of Life Care for LGBTQ+ Patient Populations at the Cleveland Clinic," which will include development of a new educational module and simulation-based experience for caregivers. At a national level, I am currently co-chair of the ASBH Disability Ethics Affinity Group, and I was previously a co-founder and co-chair for the ASBH Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Affinity Group. I served on the ASBH Conference Program Committee for three years and currently serve on the ASBH Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Webinar Series Task Force.
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.