Alexandria Abdalla, MA
Project Manager, UPMC
Alexandria Abdalla received her MA in Bioethics in 2019 with a thesis, Dementia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Why Death with Dignity Acts Should Include People with Dementia and How it Can be Accomplished. She received a BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies, with a concentration in ethics, from American University in 2018. Alex is currently a project manager at UPMC.
Natalia Acevedo, LLM, MA
Senior Consultant for the Center for Health and Human Rights, O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University
na859@georgetown.edu
Natalia Acevedo received her MA in Bioethics in 2021 with a thesis, A Defense of Physician Advocacy: Advocating for the Health of Undocumented Immigrants in the United States and Colombia. In 2015, she earned her Master of Laws (LLM) from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, with support from the Disability Rights Scholarship Program of Open Society Foundations. Natalia then received a Fulbright Fellowship to pursue her MA in Bioethics. Her research interests include international human rights law, disability rights and decision-making, sexual and reproductive rights, and the right to health for historically discriminated populations. With a background in research, advocacy and health rights training, she is interested in the intersection of human rights and healthcare delivery, as well as in educating doctors and health professionals within a human rights framework. Natalia previously taught Global Health, Bioethics and Human Rights as a member of the Law Faculty of Universidad de los Andes and is an active member of Latinx Bioethics. She currently serves as Senior Consultant for the Center for Health and Human Rights of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.
Donald Ainslie, MA, PhD
Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto
donald.ainslie@utoronto.ca
Donald Ainslie received a BSc in Mathematics from Queen’s College, and an MA in Bioethics and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and a member of the Joint Centre for Bioethics. His research interests include the philosophy of David Hume, naturalism in ethics, and the foundations of bioethics. His MA thesis is entitled Redefining Bioethics in the Age of AIDS. His work in bioethics has been published in Hastings Center Report, Social Philosophy and Policy, and Health Care Analysis.
Rachel Ankeny, MA, PhD
Chair and Professor of Philosophy, Wageningen University
rachel.ankeny@wur.nl
Rachel Ankeny received an MA in Philosophy and a PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh, an MA in Gastronomy from University of Adelaide, and a BA in Philosophy and Math from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM. She received her MA in Bioethics in 1995 with a thesis, Reexamining Fundamental Issues in Biomedical Ethics Through Consideration of Candidate Selection. Prior to 2000, Rachel served as the Class of ‘43 Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Science at Connecticut College and was a research fellow at Princeton University. She previously served as Director and Senior Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science Unit at the University of Sydney and as Professor and Deputy Dean of Research at the University of Adelaide. In 2024, Rachel was appointed the Chair and Professor of Philosophy at Wageningen University, Netherlands.
Jennifer Beck, MA, JD
Private Legal Practice
Jennifer Beck received a BS in Biology and Chemistry from John Carroll University, and an MA in Bioethics and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh. She previously clerked for the Hon. Peter C. Economus for the Northern District of Ohio. Jennifer is currently at a private legal practice focusing on criminal and family law.
Tomas Bednar, MA, JD
Vice President and Counsel at Healthsperien
tbednar@healthsperien.com
Tomas Bednar received a BA in English Literature in 2008 and an MA in Bioethics in 2010, both from the University of Pittsburgh. His thesis is entitled Ethical Considerations of Newborn Euthanasia: A Quality of Life Approach. He earned his JD from Temple University, James E. Beasley School of Law in 2012. Tomas then completed a 2-year fellowship with the Independence Foundation–a medical-legal partnership focusing on the needs of low-income cancer patients–and worked for the Legal Clinic for the Disabled at Hahnemann University Hospital. He is currently Senior Vice President & Counsel at Healthsperien in Washington, DC.
Athena Beldecos, MA, MD
Chief of Hospital Medicine, Ralph H. Johnson VAMC
Athena Beldecos received a BA from Swarthmore College in 1988, an MA in Medical Ethics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1997, and an MD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1998. Her thesis is entitled The Rhetoric of Medical Innovation and Access to Experimental Treatment: A Cause for Ethical Concern. She is currently Chief of Hospital Medicine at Ralph H. Johnson VAMC in Charleston, South Carolina.
Jessica Benham, MA, PhD
State Representative for Pennsylvania House District 36
Jessica Benham received an MA in Bioethics with a thesis, Childhood and Disability: Ethical Considerations, in 2019 and a PhD in Communication in 2022, both from the University of Pittsburgh. She also received an MA in Communication from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her thesis, Proud to be Autistic: Metaphorical Construction and Salience of Cultural and Personal Identity in #StopCombatingMe, examined self-advocacy by those with autism through a neurodiversity perspective. Jessica is an advocate for autistic rights of individuals with autism, and is interested in creating sensory-friendly spaces in educational settings, increasing access to IEPs for autistic children in public schools, reducing barriers to employment for adults with autism, and helping parents, teachers and healthcare professionals better understand people with autism. She is former Director of Development at the Pittsburgh Center for Disability Justice (formerly Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy) and was named an Autistic Scholars Fellow by the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network in 2016. Jessica currently serves as the State Representative for Pennsylvania House District 36.
Autumn Boyer, MA, PhD
Director of Operations, Trilogue Center for Real-World Evidence
arb352@pitt.edu
Autumn Boyer received an AA in Communication from Santa Rosa Junior College in 2001, a BA in Speech Communication and Rhetoric from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2003, and a PhD in Communication and Rhetoric from the University of Pittsburgh in 2010. She received her MA in Bioethics in 2009. Her thesis, entitled In a ‘Sorry’ State: The Ethics of Institutional Apologies in Response to Medical Errors, complemented her doctoral dissertation on President Clinton’s apology for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Her research interests include the intersection of rhetoric and bioethical decision-making, health disparities among minorities and/or the economically disadvantaged, and health promotion among the elderly. Autumn was previously a lecturer in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado at Denver. She currently serves as Director of Operations at the Trilogue™ Center for Real World Evidence, established by the University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine to support Pitt/UPMC researchers' efforts to engage in patient-centered research to improve health and healthcare in Pittsburgh communities.
Amanda Bradke, MA, MD
Assistant Professor and Primary Care Physician, Rush University Medical Center
mandyjo1221@gmail.com
Amanda Bradke received a BS in Biology from the University of Michigan in 2007 and an MD from Case Western Reserve University in 2013. She completed her residency at Boston Medical Center, where she participated in a variety of global health experiences, including traveling to Uganda with SocMed and to India as part of the BMC Global Health Pathway. Amanda also worked at Shiprock Northern Navajo Medical Center in the Navajo Reservation and served as a rotating fellow at Tséhootsooí Medical Center in Fort Defiance, Arizona, and at Zanmi Lasante in Haiti. Amanda received her MA in Bioethics in 2009 with a thesis, The Ethics of Medical Brigades in Honduras: Who Are We Helping? She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush University Medical Center (RUMC) and also serves in its Department of Hospitalist Medicine, providing clinical care to homeless shelters affiliated with RUMC.
Jennifer Braverman, MD, MA
Assistant Professor, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Colorado School of Medicine
jennbraverman@gmail.com
Jennifer Braverman received a BA in Sociology from Rice University in 2007 and an MD, with a focus in Medical Ethics, from Baylor College of Medicine in 2012. She then completed a fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine at Magee-Womens Hospital. Jennifer received her MA in Bioethics in 2022. Her thesis, entitled Ethical Decision Making Regarding Termination in Gestational Carrier Pregnancies, considered how conflicts regarding pregnancy termination between a gestational surrogate and prospective parents should be resolved. Jennifer is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine at the University of Colorado.
Janetta Brundage, MA
Doctoral Student, Case Western Reserve University
janetta.brundage@case.edu
Janetta Brundage received a BS in Molecular Biology and a BPhil in Philosophy in 2021, both from the University of Pittsburgh. She received her MA in Bioethics in 2022 with a thesis, The Ethics of Heterologous Ovarian Transplantation. Janetta then worked as a primary qualitative research data analyst at the Johns Hopkins Transplant Research Center before becoming a doctoral student in the Department of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University.
Jennifer M. Bushee, MA
Programme Coordinator, Make Way
Jennifer.Bushee@wemos.nl
Jennifer M. Bushee received her MA in Medical Ethics in 1997 with a thesis, Hygienic Hijinks: A Critique of the Public Health Service Violence Prevention Campaign. She has worked with the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) in the Netherlands and the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights, focusing on her interests in domestic violence, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS-related issues. Jennifer is currently a Communication and Stakeholder Manager with RNW Media in the Netherlands.
Elaine Byrnes, MS, MA
Research Lab Manager, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh
byrnesev@upmc.edu
Elaine Byrnes, MS, MA, is a Research Lab Manager in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Hillman Cancer Center of the University of Pittsburgh. She received her BS in Biology from the University of South Carolina. She then received her MS in Forensic DNA and Serology from the University of Florida, where she completed her final research project on the recognition, control, and minimization of bias in scientific analysis and presentation of evidence. Elaine received her MA in Bioethics in 2025 with a thesis, Consent to Biobank Research: Could Having Justified Trust Substitute for Having Substantial Understanding, and Still Provide Morally Transformative Consent for Research Participation?
Michael Certo, MM, MD, MA
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
mcerto@luriechildrens.org
Michael Certo received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2005, an MM from the Manhattan School of Music in 2007, and an MD from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2016. He then completed the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at UPMC and a Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where he also completed his residency in pediatrics. Michael Certo received his MA in Bioethics in 2022 with a thesis, Using Cognitive Capacity, Experiential Capacity, and Domains of Suffering to Inform Assessment of Suffering in Children. It developed an account of suffering to provide a clear and justifiable framework for determining whether and how pediatric patients are suffering, with the goals of helping clinicians identify means to ameliorate suffering and reducing the risk that inaccurate attributions of suffering are used to defend premature or unjustified decisions regarding treatment.
Elizabeth Chaitin, MSW, MA, DHCE
ethicsck@gmail.com
Elizabeth Chaitin, MSW, MA, DHCE served as the Director of Hospital Based Palliative Care for the Palliative and Supportive Institute of UPMC and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine in the Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics. Dr. Chaitin served as a member of the teaching faculty for the Internal Medicine and Family Practice Residency Programs of UPMC Shadyside, the Master of Arts in Bioethics Program, and the Consortium Ethics Program of the Center for Bioethics and Health Law. She received her MA in Medical Ethics and an MSW in Health & Mental Health from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Doctorate of Health Care Ethics from Duquesne University. Her MA thesis is entitled The Nature of Care in Nursing. Her research interests include end of life decisionmaking, dealing with difficult families, and physician-patient communication. Representative Publications:
- Chaitin B, Arnold RM. A case of family disagreement. In: Heffner JE, Byock, JR, editors. End of Life Pearls. Philadelphia, PA: Hanley and Belfus, 2002: 99-102.
- Chaitin B. Be careful not to close your eyes. UPMC Health System Palliative Care and Hospice Newsletter 2000; 2: 1.
- Chaitin B. Case thirteen: advance directives and pregnancy. In: Kuczewski and Pinkus, editors. An Ethics Casebook for Community Hospitals. Georgetown University Press, 1999: 73-78.
- Chaitin B. Every person tells a story. Caregivers News and Report May 1998: 36-38.
- Chaitin B. Futility of care: when is enough, enough? Caregivers News and Report June 1998: 10-13.
- Chaitin B. Measuring capacity for medical decision-making in the ICU. Caregivers News and Report August 1998: 23-29.
- Chaitin B. Same scene, different view. Community Ethics, Newsletter for The Consortium Ethics Program 1997; 4(2).
Colby Chamberlain, MA, DO
Clinical Instructor of Medicine, UPMC Shadyside
chamberlaincl2@upmc.edu
Colby Chamberlain received a BA with a major in zoology from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio in 2004. She received her MA in Bioethics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007 with a thesis entitled Ethical Reasons to Involve Demented Patients in Their Care and Why Physicians Fail to Do So. In 2011, she graduated with honors from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, and became a Clinical Instructor of Medicine at UPMC Shadyside Hospital.
Mary Cooper, MA, MD
Co-Director of Women's Health and Family Medicine Physician, Allegheny Health Network
mcooper513@gmail.com
Mary Cooper received a BA from Dartmouth College in 2007 majoring in Art History, and graduated from the MD/MA program at the University of Pittsburgh in 2012. Her thesis is entitled "We're Having This Baby Tonight!" Informed Consent and Medical Decisionmaking Regarding Oxytocin Augmentation. She completed her residency in Family Medicine at the University of Massachusetts, Worcester, and now practices in Pittsburgh as a Family Medicine physician with Allegheny Health Network and is also the medical student clerkship director for students from Temple, Drexel and LECOM.
Daniel K. Crane-Hirsch, MA, JD
Attorney, US Department of Justice
daniel.crane-hirsch@usdoj.gov
Daniel Crane-Hirsch received his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago with majors in philosophy and psychology. He received an MA in Philosophy and an MA in Bioethics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1996, and a JD from Harvard Law School in 1999. While in law school, he was a section editor for the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, and represented low-income clients with disabilities and mental illnesses at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. Following law school, he was a law clerk for two years for the Hon. Lynn Adelman, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Mental health issues are a strong interest: his third-year paper in law school examined how workers with “invisible” mental illnesses fare under the Americans with Disabilities Act; his MA thesis, Moral Responsibility, Depression, and Dysthymia, considered therapeutic ascriptions of responsibility to those who are depressed; and his college honors paper at the University of Chicago explored the morality of involuntary commitment of the mentally ill. While at the University of Pittsburgh, he also earned an MA in Philosophy, and gave presentations at the Center for Bioethics and Health Law and the national meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.
For the Office of Consumer Litigation at the U.S. Justice Department, Daniel conducted investigations and litigates pharmaceutical and adulterated food cases under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and prosecuted abusive telemarketers for violations of the Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule. From 2002 to 2005, he worked nearly four years on the Justice Department’s Tobacco Litigation Team in the federal government’s lawsuit against cigarette manufacturers. The United States won the lawsuit with a 1,500+ page final decision from the district court. United States v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., F. Supp. 2d (D.D.C. 2006), appeal docketed, No. 06-5267 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 14, 2006). His work on that case included briefing a professional responsibility issue which led to a tobacco company lawyer’s being disqualified for violating the “revolving door” ethics rule which governs former government attorneys. United States v. Philip Morris, Inc., 312 F. Supp. 2d 27 (D.D.C. 2004). Representative Publications:
- Pingeon JR, and Crane-Hirsch D. Summary of Professional Standards Governing Mental Health Services in Prisons and Jails. Center for Public Representation September 30, 1997.
- Crane-Hirsch D. Kant’s views on suicide. Inquiry Spring 1990: 8.
Thomas Cunningham, MS, MA, PhD
Bioethics Director, Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center
Thomas.V.Cunningham@kp.org
Thomas Cunningham received a BS and a BA in 2003 with majors in biology and philosophy, and an MS in Biology in 2004, all from the University of California, San Diego. He successfully defended his thesis entitled Philosophy and Science Policy in the American Cloning Debate and received his MA in Bioethics in December 2013, as well as his PhD in History and Philosophy of Science in December. He served as Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities and Internal Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and now is Medical Bioethics Director for Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA.
Jennifer Damelio, MA, JD
Deputy Title IX Coordinator, Utah State University
jennifer.damelio@usu.edu
Jennifer Damelio received a BA from Ursinus College in 2006 majoring in Philosophy and French, and graduated from the JD/MA program at the University of Pittsburgh in 2011. Her thesis is entitled Practical and Ethical Problems with 'Vulnerability'. She previously worked as an Associate with Friedman Schuman in Jenkintown, PA, where she concentrated her work in the Elder Law and Estate Administration, Wealth Preservation and Estate Planning, and Corporate and Business Law areas. She currently serves as a Deputy Title IX Coordinator at Utah State University.
Marina DiMarco, PhD, MA
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Washington University in Saint Louis
m.dimarco@wustl.edu
Marina DiMarco graduated from the MA program in Bioethics in 2023 and entered the Department of Philosophy & Religion and the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University as an Assistant Professor. Marina's thesis, Ghost Data Journeys of the Gender Health Gap, explored the nature and value of data in the context of female technology (femtech) startups. Marina also earned a PhD in History & Philosophy of Science. She continues to work on the ethics and epistemology of the health and life sciences.
Leah Dugan, MA, JD
Attorney Advisor, Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals, Cleveland, OH
Leah Dugan received a BA in History from the University of Chicago. She successfully defended her MA thesis is entitled Reporting Requirements and the New York SAFE Act of 2013 and graduated with her JD/MA degree in December 2013.
Wanda Ferrara, MA
Master of Arts in Bioethics
Waf38@pitt.edu
Wanda Ferrara is a Research Coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh where she received a BA in History and Philosophy of Science and a BA in Italian Studies. Wanda's desire to understand and improve the healthcare experience of immigrants in the US inspired her interest in the field of bioethics and in topics ranging from patient care to cultural competence in medicine. Her professional goal is to contribute to a more equitable and inclusive environment within clinical care and research. She completed the MA Program with a thesis entitled Epistemic Injustice in Medicine: Testimony, Interpretation, and the Moral Politics.
Angela Fortunato, MA, MPH
Assistant Head of School, Willows Academy, IL
Angela Fortunato received a BA, with a major in biology and minor in history and philosophy of science, from Northeastern University in 2000. She received an MA in Bioethics in 2002, an MPH in Behavioral and Community Health Sciences with a certificate in Aging in 2005, and a Teaching Certificate for Science Education in 2009 from the University of Pittsburgh. Her MA Thesis is entitled Reassessing the ‘Burden of Life’: the Moral Judgment of Terminally Ill Patients Regarding the Value of Their Lives and What the Rest of Us Can Do About It. In 2009, she joined the faculty of the Oakcrest School in McLean, VA. In 2022, she became the Assistant Head of School at Willows Academy in Des Plaines, IL.
Michael Freeman, MA, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
mfreeman3@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
Michael Freeman received a BA in Biology from Siena College and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Albany Medical College and an MA in Bioethics from the University of Pittsburgh. He joined the MA Program while a Fellow in the Division of Pediatric Nephrology at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and wrote his thesis: The Ethical Implications of Emerging Genetic Predictors of Poor Organ Transplant Outcomes. He is now Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine.
Tinsley Grimes, MEd, MD, MA
Resident, Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center Psychiatry
Tinsley Grimes received her BA in English from UCLA and her MEd in Child Studies from Vanderbilt University. In 2022, she received her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and entered her residency program at the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University. She is specializing in forensic psychiatry. Tinsley received her MA in Bioethics in 2024 with a thesis, Duties in Retrospect: Ethical Limitations to the Psychiatrist’s Duty to Warn.
Jeremy Guttman, MA
CEO and Founder, Biomotivate LLC
jguttman@biomotivate.com
Jeremy Guttman graduated from the University of Chicago in 2005 with a BA in Economics. His interests include non-mainstream medical theories about health and behavior and how to apply scientific standards to them. He is also interested in the mind-body connection mechanism and how people gather treatment information for health conditions that do not have highly effective conventional treatments. He completed his MA in Bioethics in 2014 with a thesis entitled Can Complementary and Alternative Medicine be Evaluated Within the Framework of Evidence-Based Medicine? He is now CEO and Founder of Biomotivate in Pittsburgh, a company developing motivational technology tools to analyze behavioral risk trends.
Paul K.J. Han, MA, MD, MPH
Senior Scientist, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the National Cancer Institute
paul.han@nih.gov
Paul Han, a 1999 graduate with an MA in Medical Ethics, wrote his thesis entitled Conceptual and Ethical Problems of Preventive Medicine. He received an AB from Cornell University in 1985 with a major in Religious Studies, an MD from the New York University School of Medicine in 1989, and an MPH in 2004 from the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his internal medicine residency training at UCLA in 1992, and was a clinician-educator at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine before going to the National Cancer Institute where he completed training in the Ethics of Prevention and Public Health track of the NCI Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program and served as a Medical Officer in the Outcomes Research Branch of the Applied Research Program of the National Cancer Institute. A general internist and palliative medicine physician, his recent work has focused on understanding how patients and physicians deal with uncertainty in decision-making, and the outcomes of communicating ambiguous information about health risks and medical interventions. He is actively involved in initiatives examining patient-centered communication and the quality of care across the cancer continuum. He previously served as Director of the Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE) at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute. He currently serves as a Senior Scientist in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the National Cancer Institute.
Emily Ruppel Herrington, MS, MA, PhD
Assistant Teaching Professor, North Carolina State University
echerrin@ncsu.edu
Emily Herrington received a BA in English from Bellarmine University in 2008, an MS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011, before coming to the University of Pittsburgh where she pursued her MA in Bioethics and PhD in Communication, receiving both in 2019. Her MA thesis, Enhancement of “Quality of Life” As a Justification for Hand Transplantation: A Review and Critique of the Bioethics Literature After 20 Years of Experience, complemented her dissertation, Conceptions of “Success”: The Ethics and Rhetoric of Hand Transplantation. In 2019 she received a Public Humanities Fellowship to work at the Senator John Heinz History Center on its exhibition of medical innovation in Pittsburgh. With experience as a writer, editor, and teacher, Dr. Herrington served as the first Program Coordinator for the University's Research Ethics and Society Initiative (RESI). Dr. Herrington was appointed as a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Communication in Fall 2020, and in Fall 2024 became Assistant Teaching Professor at North Carolina State University.
Claire Irving Horner, MA, JD
Associate Professor, Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine
chorner@bcm.edu
Claire Irving Horner received her BA from the Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2008, and is a 2011 graduate of the JD/MA Program at the University of Pittsburgh. Her thesis is entitled A Frozen Debate: Finding an Ethical Solution for the Regulation of Embryo Donation. She is an Associate Professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine and a Clinical Ethicist at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center. Prior to her position at Baylor, she completed a two-year clinical ethics fellowship at the Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College.
Elijah Horowitz, MA
Senior QA Analyst, Radian
elijah.horowitz@gmail.com
Elijah Horowitz graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2007 with a BS in mathematics and philosophy. He graduated from the MA Program in Bioethics in August, 2012. His thesis is entitled Towards an Empirical Test for the Reasonable Person Standard in Bioethics. He is currently Interim Center Director at Mathnasium - The Math Learning Center.
Erin Johnson, MA, MD
Intensivist and Critical Care Lead Physician in Pediatric Bioethics, Goryeb Children's Hospital of Morristown Medical Center
Erin Johnson received her MA in Bioethics in 2019 with a thesis A Theoretical Foundation for Interprofessional Healthcare Ethics Education. She holds a BA from Columbia College in Art History and an MD from Case Western Reserve University. She is a Staff Pediatric Intensivist and Pediatric Critical Care Lead Physician in Pediatric Bioethics at Goryeb Children's Hospital of Morristown Medical Center.
Aviva Katz, MA, MD
In Memoriam - Associate Professor of Surgery, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
Aviva L. Katz, a surgery faculty member in the School of Medicine known for her incisive analyses of ethical issues, including the ethical implications of the structure of medical education, died Jan. 17, 2018. She received her Bachelor of Science in biomedical sciences from City College of New York in 1980. She earned her M.D. at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York in 1982, and her MA in Bioethics in 2012. She began her career as a fellow in surgery at Harvard Medical School, 1982-1986, moving to the University of Michigan, 1990-1993, and finally to Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh faculty as Assistant Professor of Surgery in 2006. She was also a surgeon in the Department of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, where she was director of the ethics consultation service. She was also vice chair of Pitt’s Internal Review Board and director of the Consortium Ethics Program of the Center for Bioethics & Health Law. She chaired the committee on bioethics for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and was a member and chair of the ethics and advocacy committee for the American Pediatric Surgical Association. She was named a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the AAP.
Lisa Keränen, MA, PhD
Professor of Communication, University of Colorado, Denver
lisa.keranen@ucdenver.edu
Lisa Keränen is a Professor of Communication at the University of Colorado, Denver. She earned an MA in Bioethics in 2002 and a PhD in Communication/Rhetoric in 2003 from the University of Pittsburgh. Her MA thesis in bioethics was entitled Taking Seriousness Seriously: An Analysis of the Ethical Appeals Grounding Sanction Assignment for Research Misconduct, a version of which later appeared in Accountability in Research. Dr. Keränen specializes in the rhetoric of science with a particular focus on rhetorics of medicine, health care, and bioethics. She actively researches the interface between science, publics, and the state in biomedical controversies, end-of-life discourse, and the international biodefense industry, and is particularly interested in how the events of 9/11 and the 2001 anthrax mailings influenced public discourse about homeland security-related risks. Her essays and reviews appear in Academic Medicine, Accountability in Research, Argumentation & Advocacy, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Communication Yearbook, Journal of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, Journal of Medical Humanities, Science Communication, and the Quarterly Journal of Speech. Her book Scientific Characters: Rhetoric, Trust, and Politics in Breast Cancer Research (University of Alabama Press, 2010) received the 2011 Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Public Address from the Public Address Division of the National Communication Association. Dr. Keränen teaches undergraduate and graduate seminars in her research areas, including Rhetoric and Bioterrorism, Rhetoric of Science and Technology, and Rhetorics of Health and Medicine, and will be teaching a travel study course this spring in Beijing. From 2006-2009, Dr. Keränen served as an ethics consultant and member of the clinical ethics committee at Boulder Community Hospital. She serves on the editorial boards of Health Communication, the Journal of Medical Humanities, and the Western Journal of Communication.
Michael Kieninger, MA
Director of Admnistration, Department of Philosophy, Universitat Konstanz, Germany
Michael.Kieninger@uni-konstanz.de
Michael Kieninger, an international student from Germany, received his MA in Medical Ethics in 1995. His thesis is entitled On the Moral Permissibility of Voluntary Active Euthanasia. He is currently the Director of the Departmental Administration, Department of Philosophy, Universität Konstanz, Germany.
Angela Kornman, MA
Dean of College & Academic Advising, All Saints’ Episcopal School, Fort Worth, TX
angelakornman@aseschool.org
Angela Kornman received a BA with a double major in philosophy and Russian studies from Rhodes College in 2006. She received an MA in Bioethics at the University of Pittsburgh in 2008 along with a Certificate in Women’s Studies. With general interests in postmodern perspectives and challenges to contemporary models of bioethics, the history and philosophy of science, and feminist perspectives, her particular interests centered on the ethical implications of the “commodification” of the body in matters such as surrogacy, the marketing of tissue and organs, and compensated research participation. Her MA thesis is entitled A Critique of the Theoretical failings of an Abstinence-only Adolescent Sex Education. Following graduation, she returned to her alma mater to become an Assistant Director of Admissions at Rhodes College with responsibilities in sixteen Western states.She then became Dean of College & Adademic Advising for All Saints’ Episcopal School in Fort Worth, TX.
Nathan Kottkamp, MA, JD
Partner, Williams Mullen
nkottkamp@williamsmullen.com
Nathan Kottkamp graduated in 1996 from the College of William and Mary with an AB and a focus on interdisciplinary ethics. Graduating from the JD/MA joint program in 2001, he also received the Health Law Certificate. His MA thesis is entitled A Practical and Communitarian Critique of the Patients’ Bill of Rights. A partner at Williams Mullen, Nathan Kottkamp provides counsel on compliance with federal and state healthcare regulations and day-to-day operational issues. His experience includes hospitals and health systems, academic medical centers, behavioral health care services providers, senior care providers and retirement communities, specialty physician practices, post-acute, and long-term care providers. Nathan has earned the CIPP/US designation as a Certified Information Privacy Professional from the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and clients rely on his insight and experience with HIPAA and other data privacy and security matters. He has been recognized as a “Leading Lawyer” for Cyber Law in Virginia by Legal 500 U.S. and as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers. Nathan also dedicates his time and experience to public health issues. He is the founder and chair of National Healthcare Decisions Day, which educates and empowers both the public and healthcare providers about the importance of advance care planning. He is also a member of the Advance Directives Task Force Committee of the Supreme Court of Virginia Commission on Mental Health Law Reform. Representative Publication: Pinkus RL, Smetanka S, and Kottkamp N. Susie’s Voice. In: Ford P and Dudzinski D, editors. Complex Ethics Consultations - Cases That Haunt Us. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press 2008.
Paula Leslie, PhD, MA
Consultant, Scholar, Preston, UK
profpleslie@outlook.com
Paula Leslie graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University in 1995 with a BS in Clinical Language Sciences, and received a PhD from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 2004 and in 2016 earned an MA in Bioethics with a thesis That Won't Help The Meatballs: Health Care Providers' Perceptions of Eating, Drinking, and Feeding as Human Experiences. With Hannah Crawford, she published The Concise Guide to Decision Making and Ethics in Dysphagia. Prior to returning to the United Kingdom, she served as Professor of Communication Science & Disorders and Director of Doctor of Clinical Science in Medical Speech-Language Pathology Program in the School of Health and Rehabilitative Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Currently a Consultant Scholar located in Preston, UK, Paula is undertaking projects with Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (RCSLT) focused on the design and implementation of national competency standards for dysphagia at a pre-registration level, and for Health Education & Improvement Wales (HEIW) educational review. Her research interests include aging, swallowing disorders, quality of life, and ethics and decision making by members of vulnerable groups at the end of life.
Crystal Lim, MA, MSW, PhD
Senior Principal Medical Social Worker, Singapore General Hospital
crystalimay@gmail.com
Crystal Lim received her BA in Social Work from the National University of Singapore and her MSW from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2001. Crystal obtained her PhD in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh in August 2014. She received her MA in Bioethics in August 2015. The title of her thesis is A Proposed Ethical Framework for the Psychosocial Evaluation of the Living Kidney Donor. She serves as the Clinical Lead for Medical Social Services and Transplant Ethics Lead in SingHealth Transplant at the Singapore General Hospital.
Jennifer Hagerty Lingler, MA, PhD
Associate Dean for Research and Professor, UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing
Jennifer Lingler received a BSN in 1994 from Case Western Reserve University an MSN in 1998, MA in Bioethics in 2003 with a thesis entitled Conceptualizing dementia as a relationship-transforming phenomenon; and PhD in nursing in 2004 from University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Lingler taught and conducted research in the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. She frequently lectures on ethical issues in dementia care, neurological assessment, and the differential diagnosis and management of dementia.
Carolyn Longest, MA
After graduating with an MA in Medical Ethics in 1991, with a thesis entitled Selected Aspects of Ethical and Legal Obligations of Physicians to Inform Terminally Ill Patients about the Alternative of Hospice, Carolyn served as the editor of the UPMC Health System Palliative Care and Hospice Newsletter, an educational resource for UPMC physicians. Her professional background is in bereavement, with specific interest in end-of-life care. Based on her Master's Thesis research, she published: Longest C. End of life care: whose responsibility? Sensabilities 1999; 3(1).
Zachary Mace, MA
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Westminster College
Zachary Mace graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2011 with a BS in Neuroscience. He received his MA in Bioethics in 2015 after defending his thesis entitled The Permissibility of Suicide in Light of the Right to Refuse Treatment. He has worked as a neurotechnologist providing intra-operative monitoring services for patients in hospitals throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. He also taught Ethics & Aging in the University of Pittsburgh's Gerontology Certificate Program and taught bioethics at West Liberty College.
Jason Manne, MA, JD, MHA, MBA
Private Legal Practice
jmanne@lawmanne.com
Jason Manne received a BS from the University of New York at Stony Brook in 1975 with majors in computer science and psychology. He received a JD in 1979, and an MHA and MBA in 2003 from the University of Pittsburgh. He received his MA in Bioethics in 2007 with a thesis entitled A Critical Look at the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST): What are its Weaknesses? He served as Senior Attorney at the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare and has interests in the ethics of health care rationing and issues related to health insurance coverage, as well as the POLST. Currently, he is in private practice and handles Board for Correction of Military Records matters including discharge upgrades and military disability retirement claims. He also handles Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims cases.
Heather Marino, MA
Senior Director of Scientific Affairs, PRA Health Sciences
h.marino.mitchell@gmail.com
Heather Marino is Senior Manager of Clinical Operations at PRA Health Sciences in Charlottesville, Virginia. Prior to that she was Sr. Project Manager within Personalized Medicine at Partners Healthcare, founded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, managing the implementation of All of Us|The Precision Medicine Initiative across the Partners Healthcare institutions; and before then Clinical Research Program Manager within the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she also managed the Return of Results Task Force for the Partners Healthcare Biobank. Heather also previously managed clinical research and biobanking efforts within the Institute for Heart Vascular and Stroke Care at Massachusetts General Hospital and managed projects focused on global clinical trial policy at the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard. Heather received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Liberal Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from Boston University. In May of 2014, Heather successfully defended her thesis entitled Social Network Sites as Informational Sources in Surrogate Decision-Making. Her interests include genetic research, blood and tissue repositories, the return of actionable and incidental findings to research participants, clinical trial data sharing and transparency, informed consent, surrogate decision-making and end of life care.
D. Scott Miller, MA, MD
Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics, University of Pittsburgh
smiller@familyhospicepa.org
D. Scott Miller graduated from Haverford College, with a major in psychology, and then pursued his medical degree at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine at Hershey, followed by the MA in Medical Ethics in 1990. His thesis project is entitled The Ability of Health Care Professionals to Implement a Required Request Law for the Procurement of Organs and Tissue. Previously he served as Assistant Professor of Medicine in Drexel University’s College of Medicine and the Internal Medicine Residency Program Director at Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, where he also served as chair of the ethics committee. His interests include palliative and end of life care, as well as clinical ethics issues and education. Currently he is Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics at the University of Pittsburgh and beginning in 2008, he served as the Inpatient Hospice Medical Director for Family Hospice.
Judith Navratil, MA
Consultant, Research Ethics Consultation Service
jln33@pitt.edu
Judith Navratil serves as a member of the Research Ethics Consultation Service (RECS) of the Research, Ethics and Society Initiative of the Office of Research. Until June 2022, she served as the Project Coordinator of “The Pittsburgh Study,” a community partnered longitudinal multi-cohort intervention research study co-sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County Department of Health and Human Services, and the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh. Prior to that, she was a staff member in the Human Research Protection Office of the University. She received her MA in Bioethics in August 2015. The title of her thesis is One Size Doesn't Fit All: Showing Adolescents the Respect They Deserve as Research Participants.
Roxana Nouri, MA
Resident, George Washington University Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Roxana Nouri completed her MA in Bioethics in 2019, with a thesis entitled Maternal-Fetal Conflict and the Impact of Ectogenesis, and began medical school at A.T. Still University of Health Sciences School of Osteopathic Medicine. She received a BS in biological sciences from Chapman University in 2016, where she conducted research on the relationship between health behaviors and well-being.
Gabriella Nutter, MA
Medical Student, Drexel University College of Medicine
gabriella.paige.nutter@drexel.edu
Gabriella Nutter graduated from the MA Program in Bioethics in 2023 and entered Drexel University College of Medicine as a medical student. Gabriella’s thesis, Anosognosia in Hemiplegia: Toward a Process of Surrogate Decision-Making, investigated whether and how patients with anosognosia in hemiplegia may be allowed to authorize or refuse treatment or enroll in research for their hemiplegia. Though patients with anosognosia in hemiplegia fail to appreciate the experience and implications of paralysis, Gabriella demonstrates that these patients can be involved in the decision-making process and that doing so assists surrogate decision-makers in reconstructing these patients’ values and preferences. During her enrollment in the MA Program, Gabriella additionally earned a certificate in Mental Health and The Gut from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and previously earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (with a concentration in Neuroscience) from Denison University.
Laura Odwazny, MA, JD
Senior Attorney with the US Department of Health and Human Services
laura.odwazny@hhs.gov
Laura Odwazny graduated from the JD/MA joint program in 1998. Her MA thesis is entitled Conflicting Interests and Contested Committees: The Hospital Attorney Serving on the Hospital Ethics Committee. She is a Senior Attorney with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Office of the General Counsel, Public Health Division. Her primary client is the Office for Human Research Protections, which interprets and enforces the HHS regulations at 45 CFR Part 46 that provide protections for human research subjects. She also frequently does work for the Division of Quality Assurance, which administers the National Practitioner Data Bank, and provides advice to the Office of Global Health Affairs regarding the US-Mexico Border Health Commission.
David Orenstein, MA, MD
Director Emeritus, Antonio J. and Janet Palumbo Professor of Cystic Fibrosis
davido@pitt.edu
David Orenstein is the Director Emeritus, Antonio J. and Janet Palumbo Professor of Cystic Fibrosis and Director Emeritus of the Antonio J. and Janet Palumbo Cystic Fibrosis Center. He is past Chair of the Ethics Committee at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. His research interests include the effects of exercise on young patients with respiratory disorders, particularly cystic fibrosis (CF), and the quality of life of patients with CF, as well as how to teach patients and families about their medical problems, again with a particular focus on CF. Dr. Orenstein has published more than 200 journal articles, abstracts, reviews, and book chapters on a variety of topics related to children’s lung disorders. He has published three books on cystic fibrosis; one is a guide for patients and their families (now in its fourth edition).
Jennifer Packing-Ebuen, MA, MPH, MD
Family Medicine Physician
Jennifer Lee Packing-Ebuen received her BS from the University of Florida in 1998 with a major in neurobiological sciences and a minor in philosophy, and her MA in Bioethics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2001. Her thesis is entitled The Obligation to Improve Medical Practice in the Health Care of Women: An Ethical Argument in Favor of the Women’s Health Specialty and a Feminist Practice of Medicine. Pursuing her interest in women’s health, health policy, and concerns about access to care, in 2005, she received an MPH in Community and Family Health, Maternal and Child Health, and a Certificate Women’s Health Policy & Advocacy, from the University of South Florida. She then graduated from Florida State’s College of Medicine and completed her residency and internship with the Florida Hospital Allopathic Family Medicine program in Orlando, Florida. She is currently a primary care physician with the J.A. Haley Veteran's Hospital in Tampa, Florida.
Amy Payne, MA
Instructor, Philosophy Department, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
amypayne@umbc.edu
Amy Payne graduated from University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 1994 with a BA and majors in biology and philosophy. She completed the MA in Bioethics in 2003 with a thesis entitled Clinical Trials in Developing Nations: Examining Exploitation. Amy is an adjunct instructor in philosophy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Sarah Pope, MA, JD
Program Manager, MRIGlobal
sarah.m.pope@gmail.com
Sarah Pope received her BS, with a major in biology and a minor in Spanish, from the University of New Hampshire in 2000. She received her joint JD/MA degrees in 2007. Her MA thesis is entitled Personal Assistants and Collaborative Decision Making: Promoting a Better Balance of Autonomy and Well-Being for Adults with Moderate, Mild, and Borderline Mental Retardation. Since graduating she served as law clerk to the Deputy Presiding Judge Philip Volland of the Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage, Alaska and a faculty facilitator for the Ethics in the Health Professions course at the University of Colorado, in Denver, Colorado. She has also worked with physicians and medical staff around the globe to develop a global health website for the Albert Schweitzer Foundation that will enable future leaders in medicine, public health, law, and policy in locating worthy endeavors abroad to support and serve with. Sarah then served as Project Manager for Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights Program, Leidos in Reston, VA. In 2022, she became Program Manager for MRIGlobal in Washington, DC. Her professional and academic interests include Law, policy, bioethics, project management, communications, and contracts management.
John Rief, MA, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Metropolitan State University of Denver
jrief1@msudenver.edu
John Rief received a BA in 2005 from Regis University, with majors in philosophy and communication. He successfully defended his masters thesis entitled Bioethics and Lifestyle Management: The Theory and Praxis of Personal Responsibility in 2013, following the defense of his doctoral dissertation entitled "Searching for the Good Life: Rhetoric, Medicine, and the Shaping of Lifestyle" in 2012. He then became a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Institute for Clinical Research Education (RAND/University of Pittsburgh Scholars Program), Department of Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine. And then Assistant Professor of Communication & Rhetorical Studies at Duquesne University until June 2019 when he relocated back to Denver, Colorado. His interests include the rhetoric of science, rhetoric surrounding policy controversies in biomedicine, the philosophical underpinnings of scientific thought and practice, and rhetoric of pain and illness.
Kevin Augusto Rivera, MD, MA
Resident, Medical College of Wisconsin Anesthesiology
Kevin Rivera wrote his thesis, West Virginia’s Voluntary Nonopioid Advance Directive: Ethical and Practical Concerns, and completed his MA in Bioethics in 2019. He then began as a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. He graduated from Sacred Heart University in 2017 with a BS in biological sciences with a concentration in neuroscience.
Lauren Ross, MA, MD, PhD
Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science, University of California, Irvine
rossl@uci.edu
Lauren Ross received a BS in Nutrition Science from California State Polytechnic and in 2011 she received her MD from the University of California, Irvine. In 2016, she received her MA in Bioethics and her PhD in History and Philosophy of Science. Her MA thesis project is entitled Stem Cell Development and the Pathway Model: Scientific Puzzles and Bioethical Issues. In 2016-2017, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Philosophy Department at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on causation and explanation in biology, neuroscience, and medicine. Some of her recent projects concern bioethical issues and causal reasoning in the context of stem cell biology and criteria of disease causation that are employed in the medical sciences.
Kamran Samakar, MA, MD
Division of Upper GI and General Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC
samakar@usc.edu
Kamran Samakar received his BA, with a major in philosophy and minor in biology and chemistry, from the University of California San Diego in 2001. He received his MA in Bioethics in 2003. His thesis project is entitled A Child’s Right to an Open Future: An Account of the Open Future from the Perspective of Well-being. He served as a Health Sciences Fellow of the Jewish Health Care Foundation and the Coro Center for Civic Leadership. Since graduating, He received his MD from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and completed his General Surgery Residency Program at Loma Linda University Medical Center where he was awarded the Chief Resident of the Year Award. He completed his fellowship training at Harvard Medical School in Advanced Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgery. His practice includes full spectrum general surgery with an emphasis on bariatric surgery. His clinical interests include obesity, gastric cancer, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and hernias. He is actively involved in academic medicine, research, and teaching.
Ryan Sauder, MA
Chief Advancement Officer, The Hastings Center
sauderr@thehastingscenter.org
Ryan Sauder received his BA from Goshen College in 1997 with a major in chemistry and his MA in Medical Ethics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000. His thesis is entitled Sharing Responsibility for the Failure to Provide Just Access to Health Care. After graduating and serving as a research assistant at the University of Pittsburgh, he worked as Director of Grants and Sponsored Research at Millersville University. He then became Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Franklin & Marshall College, where he was appointed as Assistant Dean of Academic Advancement, before he joined the staff of The Hastings Center in 2020.
Molly Sear, MA
Rare Disease Specialist, Mirum Pharmaceuticals
mollysear@yahoo.com
Molly Sear received her BA in philosophy from St. Bonaventure University in 1992 and her MA in Bioethics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2021. Her MA thesis is entitled Ethical Issues in Use of Crowdfunding to Finance Healthcare. She serves as a Rare Disease Specialist with Mirum Pharmaceuticals. Previously she was a Patient Advocate for Travere Therapeutics. Prior to that, she worked as an Analyst in the University of California San Francisco’s Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, and in the fields of nutrition and PTSD research, managing human subject trials.
Maria Silveira, MA, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, University of Michigan
mariajs@umich.edu
Maria Silveira is an internist, health services researcher, and ethicist. Her clinical interest is in palliative care and her research interests are palliative care, medical ethics, and GIS health services. She received her BA in biochemistry from Harvard University in 1991 and her MA in Medical Ethics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1995, with a thesis entitled Terminal Illness and Criteria for Physician-Assisted Death. She received her MD from SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine in 1996, and an MPH from the University of Washington in 2001. She is an Associate Professor in Geriatric and Palliative Medicine at the University of Michigan. She has published research regarding public and physician knowledge about laws governing end of life, the geography of death, and how elderly women make decisions about end-of-life care. Her current research includes several studies to explore access to palliative care through primary care and hospice. Her theoretical work focuses on the ethics of pain management. In 2003, she was chosen to be a Robert Wood Johnson Generalist Scholar, and was a VA Career Development Award recipient in 2004.
Emily Ayoub Spanovich, MA, JD
Private Legal Practice
Emily Ayoub, a 2006 graduate of the MA-JD joint program. As part of the joint program, she interned in the Office of General Counsel of Children’s Hospital, Pittsburgh, and following her graduation worked for the Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Division, in Rockville, MD. Her MA thesis is entitled At the Nexus of Law and Ethics: A Proposed Judicial Standard for Court-Ordered Cesarean Sections. In 2002, she received her BA from Bucknell University with majors in philosophy and biology.
Kathryn Tabb, MA, PhD
Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bard College
ktabb@bard.edu
Kathryn Tabb received a BA in History and Philosophy of Science in 2006 from the University of Chicago. She received a MPhil in History and Philsophy of Science in 2008 from the University of Cambridge and her PhD in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh in 2016. She completed her MA Thesis in Bioethics, entitled On the Ethics of Precision: Funding Priorities and Diachronic Justice in Psychiatric Research, and joined the faculty in the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University.
James Tabery, MA, PhD
Professor of Philosophy, University of Utah
james.tabery@utah.edu
James Tabery received a BA in philosophy and a BS in biology from Fairfield University in 2000. He received his MA in Bioethics and a PhD in History and Philosophy of Science in from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007. He is now Associate Professor of Philosophy, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Utah. His MA thesis, From a Genetic Predisposition to an Interactive Predisposition: Rethinking the Ethical Implications of Gene-Environment Interaction Research, was published in part in the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy in 2009, and in 2014, he published Beyond Versus: The Struggle to Understand the Interaction of Nature and Nurture. His professional and academic interests include historical, conceptual, methodological, and ethical issues in behavioral genetics. His collaborative research with psychology professor Lisa Aspinwall and law professor Teneille Brown about how psychopathy is treated in legal decisions by judges was published in Science. In 2023, Knopf published his second book: Tyranny of the Gene: Personalized Medicine and Its Threat to Public Health.
Rebecca Thomas, MA, MA, MPH
rthomas8@nd.edu
Rebecca Thomas received a BS from the University of Notre Dame in Environmental Science and Philosophy, and MA in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2019, she earned an MA in Bioethics with a thesis entitled, Clearing the Air: E-Cigarettes as A Strategy of Tobacco Harm Reduction, and then earned an MPH in 2022 from the University of Southern California. She is currently working at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
Shanthi Trettin, MA, MD
Psychiatrist, Women's Psychiatric Healthcare, LLC
strettin@wphealth.com
Shanthi Trettin Coleman received a BA from Oberlin College in 1997 with a major in biochemistry. A graduate of the joint MD/MA program in 2004, she also pursued Areas of Concentration in Medical Humanities and in Women’s Health. Her MA thesis is entitled Dualism of Embodied Identity: From Fashion to Medicine. She received a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grant to study the process of competency assessment and how it pertains to patient autonomy and informed consent, which she pursued between her first and second years of medical school. She considered similarities and differences between adolescent and geriatric patients, and between patients with and without a psychiatric diagnosis. She did her residency in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and is currently in private practice psychiatry focusing on women with mood and anxiety disorders in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
Cheryl Forino Wahl, MA, JD
Senior Vice President; Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at MetroHealth
cfw36@pitt.edu
Cheryl Forino Wahl graduated from Colgate University in 1991. She received her MA in Medical Ethics and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994. Her thesis project is entitled, Health Risks and Responsibility: Can Holding Individuals Responsible for Their Health Be Justified? She is currently, Senior Vice President and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at MetroHealth System in Cleveland, OH. In this role, Cheryl is charged with ensuring that MetroHealth’s policies and practices reflect a culture committed to ethical conduct for the protection of patients, staff and visitors. Before joining MetroHealth, she was the chief compliance officer for EnvisionRx Options, a subsidiary of Rite Aid Corporation, and the chief compliance officer for University Hospitals. Additionally, she served as associate general counsel for Jewish Hospital Healthcare Services.
Stacey Welch, MA
Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs & Global Labeling, Bayer Pharmaceuticals
Stacey Welch received a BS from Cornell University in 1992 and an MA in Medical Ethics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1998. Her MA thesis is entitled The Conflict of Interest of the Physician-Investigator. From 2005 to 2009, she served as an Adjunct Lecturer, teaching bioethics, in the Department of Philosophy at Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL and is currently Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs, Global Labeling at Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
Jonathan Will, MA, JD
J. Will Young Professor of Law; Founding Director, Bioethics & Health Law Center, Mississippi College School of Law
will@mc.edu
Jonathan Will graduated summa cum laude from Canisius College in 2001 majoring in English and Psychology with a minor in Religious Studies. His undergraduate honor’s thesis, exploring the historical treatment of homosexuality in the Catholic Church, won two awards at this Jesuit institution. A 2004 magna cum laude graduate of the JD/MA program, he also received a Certificate in Health Law. He served as Executive Editor of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review and published “DNA as Property: Implications on the Constitutionality of DNA Dragnets”in that journal. He presented parts of his MA thesis, My God, My Choice: When Adolescents Refuse Medical Treatment Based upon Religious Beliefs, in a Bioethics and Health Law Grand Rounds. Following graduation he joined the Pittsburgh firm of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, and taught bioethics and health law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. In 2009, he joined the faculty of the Mississippi College School of Law and served as Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Development 2015-2022. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Bioethics & Health Law and the J. Will Young Professor of Law.
Joie Li'en Zabec, MD, MA
Resident, UPMC Shadyside Family Medicine
joie.zabec@gmail.com
Joie Zabec received her BS in Neuroscience and Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2025, she received her medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and entered her residency program at UPMC Shadyside Family Medicine. Joie completed her MA in Bioethics in April 2021. Her thesis is entitled From “Not Allowed” to “This Is My Body”: Reproductive Justice Demands Supporting Informed Decisions for Labor After Cesarean.