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Student Research

The Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics at 老司机福利网 attracts students from throughout the nation and the world to SLU.

Our students complete research in diverse fields, including the philosophy of medicine, sexual and reproductive ethics, death and dying, professionalism, public health ethics, neuroethics, and Catholic health care.

Matilda Ajibola

Graduate assistant and Ph.D. student (joint philosophy and bioethics)

B.A., philosophy, Kogi State University, Nigeria                                                                                                        M.A., ethics, peace and human rights, American University, Washington, D.C.

Research Interests: bioethics; biotechnology and human enhancement; human rights

Annemarie Arnold

Graduate assistant and Ph.D. student (joint theology and health care ethics)

B.A. in biology and philosophy from Boston College
M.A., in moral theology and ethics from the Catholic University of America

Research Interests: Catholic moral theology and bioethics, trust and the doctor-patient relationship

Allison Bajada

Graduate assistant and Ph.D. student

 B.A., philosophy - Villanova University                                                                                                                         B.S., psychology - Villanova University                    

Research interests: Catholic biomedical ethics, sexual and reproductive ethics, pediatric ethics, bioethics and the law

Jordan Bauer

Ph.D. candidate (joint theology and health care ethics)

B.A. in philosophy and Catholic studies from the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, Minnesota)
B.S.N. in nursing from the College of St. Scholastica
M.S. in bioethics from the University of Mary

Research Interests: virtue ethics, beatitude, end-of-life issues, Christian anthropology, common good, theological formation of healthcare, phenomenology of healthcare

Sam Berendes

Graduate assistant and Ph.D. student

B.A., philosophy and theology - Marian University (Indianapolis)                  

Research interests: clinical ethics, organ donation, ethics and genomics, and reproductive ethics. 

Amy Broadway

Graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. student 

M.S. in occupational therapy from Washington University
M.A. in philosophy from the University of Missouri-St. Louis

Research interests: clinical ethics, end-of-life care, neuroethics, well-being, disability studies

Amanda Berg

Ph.D. candidate (joint theology and health care ethics)

B.A. in classics (ancient Greek) from the University of Virginia
M.T.S. from Loyola University Maryland

Research interests: ancient medicine and suffering

Andre Chavez

SLU Diversity Fellow, graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. student (joint philosophy and bioethics)

B.A., in philosophy and medical humanities, Baylor University
Research interests: phenomenology of illness, virtue ethics, metaphysics of health and illness, clinical reasoning, models of clinical care, philosophical anthropology, embodiment, and pathocentric epistemic injustice
 Joel Cox

Graduate assistant and Ph.D. student (joint philosophy and bioethics)

B.A. in philosophy and history - Pepperdine University
Research interests: ethics of autonomy, emerging autonomy, analytic metaethics, abortion, clinical ethics, epistemology, divine command theory, platonic defenses of democracy in the republic
Jacquelyn Cutts

Ph.D. candidate

B.A. in religious and theological studies and philosophy from Salve Regina University

Research interests: Catholic biomedical ethics, clinical ethics, disability and impairment, Thomistic theology, death and dying, organizational ethics

Douglas Davison

Graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. student

B.A. in philosophy from Elmhurst University (minors in medical humanities and religion)
M.A. in bioethics from Wake Forest University

Research interests: reproductive ethics, end-of-life ethics, clinical ethics

Samuel Deters

Ph.D. candidate

B.A. in theology and philosophy from Quincy University
M.A. in theology from the Aquinas Institute of Theology

Research interests: clinical ethics, end-of-life care, pain and suffering, virtue ethics, Catholic social teaching

Kirsten Antonacci Dempsey

Ph.D. candidate (joint theology and health care ethics)

 B.A. in theology and finance from Benedictine College                                                                                           M.A. in theological ethics from 老司机福利网 

Research interests: goods of aging, geriatric care, economics/business and medicine, Catholic bioethics, moral theology, end-of-life care/decision making, clinical ethics

Andrea Eidsvik 

Ph.D. candidate

B.A. from Quest University Canada
M.Sc. in medical humanities from King鈥檚 College from the University of London

Research interests: clinical ethics, metaethics, hermeneutics, phenomenology narratives medical law,  end of life

Marissa Espinoza

Graduate teaching assistant, SLU Dissertation Fellowship (AY 23-24) and Ph.D. candidate

B.A. in philosophy from Azusa Pacific University
M.A. in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma

Research interests: virtue ethics, feminist ethics, medical humanities 

Peter Fonseca

Graduate teaching assistant, Ph.D. student

 B.A. in philosophy from Cardinal Glennon College                                                                                               M.A. in theology from Kenrick School of Theology                                                                                           M.Div. from Kenrick School of Theology                                                                                                                 M.S. in bioethics - University of Mary

Research interests: Catholic moral tradition, catholic health care, natural law

Phil Fung

Ph.D. candidate

B.A. in biochemistry and policy studies from Rice University
M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School

Research interests: philosophy of medicine, medical ethics education, virtue ethics, clinical ethics and end-of-life care

Cynthia Gonzalez

SLU Diversity fellow and Ph.D. student (Joint Philosophy and Bioethics)

B.A. in philosophy and literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz

Research interests: Aristotle, virtue ethics, aesthetics, business ethics, clinical ethics, public philosophy

Julie Gunby

SLU Presidential Fellow, Graduate teaching assistant, and Ph.D. candidate (joint theology and health care ethics)

B.S.N. in nursing from Emory University
B.A. in philosophy and german from the University of Georgia
M.S.N. in nurse midwifery from Emory University
M.T.S. in theological studies from Duke Divinity School

Research Interests: Virtue ethics, virtue epistemology, phenomenology, clinical decision-making, perinatal care

Natalie Hardy

SLU Dissertation Fellowship (AY 24-25), Graduate teaching assistant, and Ph.D. candidate

B.A. in philosophy and neuroscience - Augustana College

Research interests: Empathy, compassion, meaning-making in patients with terminal diagnoses, health care in underserved populations (prisoners, poverty-stricken/economically challenged individuals, etc.)

 Jacob Harrison

Ph.D. candidate

B.A. in biology from Carroll College 
M.A. in theology from Aquinas Institute of Theology

Research interests: Catholic health care, clinical ethics, catholic moral theology, sexual and reproductive ethics, virtue ethics

Lexi Hucker

Graduate teaching assistant & Ph.D. candidate

B.A. in philosophy from 老司机福利网
B.A. in gender studies from 老司机福利网
J.D. with a concentration in health law from 老司机福利网

Research interests: Legal epidemiology, law and bioethics, addiction ethics 

Hillary King

Graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. student

B.A. in philosophy from the University of Washington
M.A. in philosophy from Ohio University

Research interests: Informed consent, organ donation, reproductive ethics, and clinical ethics

Dakotah Kinsella

Graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. student

B.A. in philosophy, neuroscience, pre-medicine, from Augustana College     
M.A. in philosophy from the University of Tennessee 
 

Research interests: Neuroethics, research ethics with vulnerable populations, clinical decision-making, reproductive ethics, feminist bioethics, narrative medicine and racial health disparity

Charles Love

Ph.D. student (Joint Theology and Health Care Ethics)

 B.A. in biology from Westmont College                                                                                                                   M.A. in Theology and Leadership from Gonzaga University

Research interests: Catholic healthcare ethics, medical technology, theology of medicine, the intersection of creation and medicine, Aquinian concepts of medicine and healthcare.

Alex McNamee

Graduate assistant and Ph.D. student (Joint Philosophy and Bioethics)

B.A. in philosophy & B.A. in psychology, Montana State University

Research interests: Philosophy of medicine, metaethics, end of life care, health disparities

Tomi Ogungbenle

SLU Diversity Fellow and Ph.D. student

B.A. in medical humanities, Baylor University
M.A. in healthcare ethics from the University of Louisville

Research interests:  Philosophy of Technology, Disability Ethics and Race

Ben Parviz

Graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. candidate (Joint Philosophy and Bioethics)

B.A. in theology from Concordia University Chicago 
M.A. in theological studies from 老司机福利网
M.A. in philosophy from the University of Missouri-St. Louis

Research interests: Hope and human flourishing

Dominic Robin

Ph.D. student (Joint English and Bioethics)

 B.A in english from the College of the Ozarks                                                                                                         M.A. in English from University of North Florida

Research interests: Medical humanities, medicine and literature, health humanities, disability studies, death and dying, literature and philosophy, 20th-century English literature, narrative ethics

Agnieszka Romanowska

Graduate assistant and Ph.D. student 

M.Jur. in faculty of law and administration from Jagiellonian University (Krakow, Poland)
M.S. in bioethics from the University of Warsaw (Poland)
 

Research interests: Clinical ethics, ethics of consent, ethics of new technologies (ethics of the use of AI in medicine), organizational culture in the context of health care system

Paul Riffon

Ph.D. candidate

B.A. in philosophy and theology from Wheeling Jesuit University
M.A. in theology from the University of Dayton

Research interests: Catholic spirituality, Catholic ethics, death and dying, rural health, and transhumanism

Sarosh Saleem

Graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. candidate

M.B.B.S. in medicine from Fatima Jinnah Medical University (Lahore, Pakistan)
M.B.E. in bioethics from the Aga Khan University (Karachi, Pakistan)
Fellowship in pediatric bioethics from the Children's Mercy (Kansas City, Missouri)

Research interests: Clinical Ethics in Pakistan, clinical ethics consultation across borders, developing support to mitigate moral distress in health care providers, health care ethics education in Pakistan

Michael Sauder

Ph.D. student

B.S. in  biochemistry from the Messiah University
M.P.H. in biostatistics and epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University/Bloomberg School of Public Health
M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
M.A. in philosophy of medicine from the King's College (London)

Research interests: Ethics, causation, placebo

Spencer Schmid

Graduate assistant and M.D./Ph.D. student

B.S. in biology, health and society from the University of Michigan
B.S. in philosophy from the University of Michigan 

Research interests: End-of-life decision-making, the appropriate role of genetic technologies in preventative medical care, deontological approaches to public health, social contractualism and public health, and scarce resource allocation

Kathryn Sheldon

Ph.D. candidate (Joint Theology and Health Care Ethics)

B.A. in catholic studies from Seton Hall University
M.A. in theology from Seton Hall University

Research interests: Catholic health care, systematic theology, animal research ethics, mental health care ethics, and sexual and reproductive health ethics

J. Peter Swindemann

Graduate assistant and Ph.D. student (Joint Theology and Health Care Ethics)

B.S. in mechanical engineering Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
B.A. in theology from Marian University (Indianapolis)
M.A. in theology from Aquinas Institute of Theology

Research interests: Christian Ethics, the common good, sexual and reproductive ethics, and Thomistic metaphysics.

Addison Tenorio

Ph.D. candidate

B. A. in medical humanities from Baylor University

Research interests: Advance care planning, end-of-life care, Latin American medicine, bilingual medicine/interpretation, catholic social teaching, health care reform

Andrea Thorton

Graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. student (Joint Theology and Health Care Ethics)

B.A. in english from Harding University
M.T.S. in theology and the arts from Vanderbilt University

Research interests: Pain and suffering, spirituality and medicine, clinical decision making, public health, embodiment and incarnational theology

Stephanie Tillman

SLU Presidential Fellow and Ph.D. student

B.A. in global health and medical anthropology from the University of Michigan
M.S.N. in nurse-midwifery from Yale University School of Nursing
Clinical Medical Ethics Fellow at the University of Chicago Maclean Center

Research interests: feminist and queer bioethics, consent in intimate exams, trauma-informed pelvic care, medical abolition, antiracism, sexual and reproductive ethics, moral injury, medical humanities, inter-professional education, healthcare for uninsured and underinsured communities

Kelly Turner

Graduate assistant and Ph.D. student

B.S. in biochemistry and cell biology at Rice University
M.A. in philosophy at Georgia State University

Research interests: Christian ethics consultation, organizational ethics, ethics in long-term care facilities and geriatric care

Lou Vinarcsik

Graduate teaching assistant and M.D./Ph.D. student

B.S. in biology from Cornell University

Research interests: Feminist and queer theory/ concepts of care, anarchism and medical ethics, science and technology studies/ history of medicine, disability studies, local medical anthropology

Helen Webster

Graduate assistant and J.D./Ph.D. student

B.A. in biology with a minor in philosophy from Davidson College

Research interests: Intersection of law and bioethics, neuroethics, clinical ethics, data and genetic privacy

Mallory Wietrzykowski

Ph.D. student (Joint Philosophy and Bioethics) 

B.A. in philosophy from Grand Valley State University                                                                                         
M.A. in philosophy from Kent State University

Research interests: Ethics, applied ethics, public health ethics, biomedical ethics, feminist philosophy, ethics of sport

Ashley Yukihiro

Graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. student

B.S. in human biology from Biola University
M.A. in philosophy from Talbot School of Theology/Biola University

Research interests: End-of-life care, geriatric care, death and dying, palliative care, patient autonomy, dignity, clinical ethics/decision making and disability studies

Alexander Zhang

Graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. student (Joint Philosophy and Bioethics)

M.A. in philosophy from Arizona State University

Research Interests: virtue ethics, ethics of care, applied ethics, bioethics, public health ethics, political philosophy