About
I work to bring philosophical inquiry to the practice of medicine, nursing, and public health. I am also a practicing healthcare ethics consultant — case consultation, ethics education, policy development, and service on committees ranging from scarce-resource allocation to therapeutic termination of pregnancy. More recently I completed a nursing degree and worked as a bedside nurse. I want to understand healthcare ethics from both inside and outside the system.
My research focuses on vaccine ethics and policy, clinical ethics, and public health ethics. I have published two monographs, Values and Vaccine Refusal (Routledge, 2016) and America's New Vaccine Wars (Oxford University Press, 2023, with Katie Attwell), along with three edited volumes and nearly a hundred articles and book chapters. My work appears in journals including JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, Pediatrics, Milbank Quarterly, Hastings Center Report, and the American Journal of Bioethics.
My op-eds and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Time, STAT, NBCNews, and The Conversation. I have been interviewed by the Washington Post, Vox, NPR, CBC Radio, and outlets in Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia.
Speaking & Engagement
I speak at conferences, grand rounds, and colloquia on issues in clinical and public health ethics — vaccine policy and ethics, pediatric decision-making, treatment over objection, conscientious objection, and the ethics work of clinical teams. To inquire about a talk, please email me.
Recorded Talks and Videos
Research
Books
Selected Journal Articles
Filter by area, or see my CV for a complete list.
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"The US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Dismantled"
Vaccine
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"Vaccine Policy and Eliminating Nonmedical Exemptions — Read the Room"
Vaccine
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"America's Vaccine Policy Whiplash — Finding the Way Forward"
Vaccine
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"No Vaccine, No Organ? Ethics of Vaccine Mandates for Pediatric Transplant"
Vaccine
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"Mandatory Vaccination: Scope, Sanctions, Severity, Selectivity, and Salience"
Vaccine
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"When Vaccine Guidance Fractures: The Ethics Consultant's Role in Restoring Clinical Confidence"
Clinical
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"A Defense of Institutional Conscience Rights for Secular Hospitals: Philosophical Justifications and Practical Applications"
Clinical
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"Limits on Parental Discretion in Medical Decision-Making: Pediatric Intervention Principles"
Clinical
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"Pediatric Decision Making: Consensus Recommendations"
Clinical
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"Three Kinds of Decision-Making Capacity for Refusing Medical Interventions"
Clinical
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"Treatment Over Objection — Moral Reasons for Reluctance"
Clinical
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"Capacity for Preferences and Pediatric Assent: Implications for Pediatric Practice"
Clinical
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"Stronger Isn't Always Better: Nalmefene in Community Overdose Response and the False Promise of Quick-Fix Public Health Solutions"
Public Health Phil
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"Reciprocity, Vulnerability, and the Moral Significance of Herd Immunity"
Public Health Phil
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"Competing Epistemic Spaces: How Social Epistemology Helps Explain and Evaluate Vaccine Denialism"
Public Health Phil
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"Imperfect Immunization Communication on School District Websites: A Mixed Methods Review"
Nursing
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"Perspectives of Public Health Nurses on the Ethics of Mandated Vaccine Education"
Nursing
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"Sincerity, Accuracy, and Selective Conscientious Objection"
Political
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"Luck and Oppression"
Political