My research falls into three broad categories. First, I work in a number of issues in health care ethics. I am particularly interested in the ethical justifications for public health initiatives and especially on newborn screening. In addition, I have on ongoing interest in the myriad of ethical issues that arise in organ transplants. And I also look at the complex set of ethical issues at the intersection of neuroscience, neurology, and ethics, in particular in the extent to which we think that we should be able to use medicine to modify our brains to improve our memory, our cognition, our moods, and our personality.
Second, I have …
My research falls into three broad categories. First, I work in a number of issues in health care ethics. I am particularly interested in the ethical justifications for public health initiatives and especially on newborn screening. In addition, I have on ongoing interest in the myriad of ethical issues that arise in organ transplants. And I also look at the complex set of ethical issues at the intersection of neuroscience, neurology, and ethics, in particular in the extent to which we think that we should be able to use medicine to modify our brains to improve our memory, our cognition, our moods, and our personality.
Second, I have a continuing interest in the social and conceptual foundations of liberal institutions and practices. I am particularly interested in the philosophical justifications for toleration, which is the subject of my book Trust and Toleration.
Third, I study the historical foundations of modern politics in the eighteenth century, particularly in the works of the great Scottish philosopher David Hume and those of the American Founders.
In addition to my primary appointment in Philosophy, I also serve as chair of the Steering Committee for the Public Health-Related Majors, a group of five interdisciplinary majors: Bioethics, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Health Policy, and Health, Behavior, and Society. Within the program, I direct the Bioethics major.
I also hold an appointment in Bioethics in the Division of Medical Humanities and Bioethics at the University of Rochester Medical School, and I co-chair the Interdisciplinary Cluster in Health and Human Values. At the Univesity of Rochester Medical Center, I work with the Clinical Ethics program, the Ethics Committee, the Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee, and the solid organ transplant teams. Outside Rochester, I serve on the Ethics Committee of the Empire State Stem Cell Board for the State of New York.