I am Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Assistant Director of the Center for Bioethics at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. I completed my (direct-entry) PhD in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto, additionally completing a Collaborative Specialization in Bioethics through the Joint Center for Bioethics.
My (maximally controversial) dissertation "The Ethics of Intersex Pediatric Surgery" (defended three academic terms early, without corrections) was supervised by Dr. Amy Mullin, and "fact-checked" by pediatric urologist and thesis committee member Dr. Darius Bagli, and is accessibly and freely published in the University of Toronto archives.
For those interested in my work on intersex conditions, I would highly recommend the following four articles: (1) “‘Intersex’ does not refute the sex binary” The Linacre Quarterly, 90.2 (2023): 145-154; (2) “Is intersexuality a mere difference or disorder?” Bioethics, 36.6 (2022): 673-679. (3) "How to think better about intersex pediatric surgery" ImpactEthics. (4) "Canada is not ready to criminalize intersex pediatric surgery." ImpactEthics.
While I am a professional philosopher with concentration in bioethical questions pertaining to sex, gender, and surgery, I am also a trained bioethicist. My work in clinical bioethics began with the introduction of paediatric urologist and professor of surgery Dr. Darius Bagli on my thesis committee. Moreover, I served as a TCPS2-certified member on the Social Science, Humanities and Education Research Ethics Board (SSHE REB) at The University of Toronto, a research volunteer at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) under critical care physician Dr. Andrew Helmers, as well as a bioethics research volunteer at Mount Sinai Hospital under senior bioethicist Dr. Rebecca Greenberg and Nipa Chauhan. At Franciscan, I am now Assistant Director of the Center for Bioethics.
Beyond bioethics and my philosophical generalism, I am a Josef Pieper scholar, and have defended in various places (including my doctoral dissertation, of all places!) his elegantly simple, humane, and plausible account of the philosophical act. Pieper's short, readable, and insightful philosophical texts continue to inspire my love of wisdom, and continually ensure that my philosophical research and teaching are connected to the wonder of being - and not merely to the appeasement of professional philosophers. I am currently preparing a manuscript on Pieper, and am teaching a texts course solely on his writings at Franciscan University Fall 2025 - the first semester-long course on his writings in the English-speaking world, to the best of my knowledge.
