I am a Professor of Health Care Ethics in the Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics at Saint Louis University. Previously, I held the Semler Endowed Chair for Medical Ethics in the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Marian University in Indianapolis. I received my BA from the University of San Diego with majors in Philosophy and Spanish, and a minor in Psychology. I earned my MA in Philosophy at Arizona State University and PhD at Saint Louis University. During my doctoral studies, I was a visiting research student at the Center for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Notre Dame and the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
From 2003 to 2013, I held a tenure-line appointment — as first assistant and later tenured associate professor — in the Department of Philosophy in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. I was also the director of graduate studies for a Master of Arts degree program in philosophy with concentrations in bioethics and international research ethics. I also held affiliate faculty appointments at the Indiana University Center for Bioethics, the IUPUI Medical Humanities and Health Studies Program, and the Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics at IU Health.
In 2006, I published my first book, 'Thomistic Principles and Bioethics,' as part of the Annals of Bioethics series at Routledge Press. In 2015, I published 'The Routledge Guidebook to Aquinas' Summa Theologiae.' Most recently, in 2017, I published an edited volume, 'Contemporary Controversies in Catholic Bioethics' in Springer's Catholic Studies in Bioethics series. In Spring 2012, I was a visiting research fellow at the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
My research interests focus on bioethics, metaphysics, and medieval philosophy. I am particularly interested in the thought of Thomas Aquinas and how his theories of human nature and morality may inform the ethical evaluation of various bioethical issues, including those at the margins of human life — such as abortion, human embryonic stem cell research, the definition of death, euthanasia, and organ donation — as well as emerging issues in genetics — such as reproductive cloning, genetic enhancement, and the creation of human/non-human chimeras — and justice in the allocation of health care resources.
I am also interested in the intersection of philosophy and popular culture and have edited/co-edited several volumes on Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Sons of Anarchy, and the films of Christopher Nolan. I've also written essays for many similar volumes.
I am a member of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, American Philosophical Association, American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, National Catholic Bioethics Center, and Society of Christian Philosophers. In 2008, I received the ACPA Young Scholar’s Award.
