Staff Research Interests
Fovargue, Sara - Co Director, Law School
My research largely centres around two areas, biotechnology and reproduction, and I am particularly interested in xenotransplantation. Themes within my work include autonomy, risk, regulation, and the relationship between law and ethics. My research explores legal and ethical aspects of clinical research, regulation and risk, and I have published on the legal regulation of xenotransplantation, and issues surrounding consenting to risk. I am also interested in decision making processes and practices with regard to the 'vulnerable'. Web page
Levitt, Mairi - Philosophy
I am broadly interested in the empirical study of beliefs and values, encompassing people's ethical perspectives and the implications for public policy. Following on from a project on 'criminal genes' and public policy' I am currently looking at perceptions of nature and nurture as explanations for youth crime and antisocial behaviour. In my research in bioethics I am interested in incorporating social and empirical perspectives as complementary to those of other disciplines. I have also continued earlier research interests in religiosity, particularly children's religiosity and religious education in schools. Web page
Machin, Laura - Lancaster Medical School
My research interests relate to the social and ethical aspects of the donation of body parts, blood and tissues, as well as assisted conception. I am currently researching on the moral aspects of the donation, and use, of cadavers in medical education and the ethical aspects of medical self-discharge. I have written journal papers exploring the needs of IVF patients, how embryo donors are perceived by those working within clinics, and how the roles of those working within assisted conception clinics or maternity units have responded to the introduction of embryo donation or cord blood banking respectively. Web page
Manson, Neil - Philosophy
My research interestes are in applied philosophy especially in the conceptual and ethical underpinnings of informed consent and, more generally, in normative aspects of communication and knowledge. This includes specific topics such as: (i) The nature and ethical significance of genetic information and genetic knowledge; (ii) Informed consent (inluding a focus on the justification of obligations to inform and upon why patients want information) (iii) Information privacy and epistemic virtue (iv) The ethics of "spin" and PR. Web page
O Cuinn, Gearoid - Law School
I am interested in the role of law in public health and its interactions with science. My recent research focused on the governance of pandemic influenza since the late nineteenth century and was funded by the Wellcome Trust. I also have a strong interest in the sociology of human rights law and practice and the intersections with new technologies. In relation to this, I am also examining how techniques developed in Science and Technology Studies can inform socio-legal analyses. Web page
Ost, Suzanne - Co Director, Law School
My main research interests in the field of health care law and ethics are end of life and the criminal laws regulation of health care ethics and practice. I was co-investigator on The Impact of the Criminal Process on Health Care Ethics and Practice, an AHRC funded research project (2008-2011) which provided a comprehensive analysis of the role of the criminal justice system in regulating health care practice and ethics in the UK. My forthcoming book for Cambridge University Press, Medicine and Bioethics in the Theatre of the Criminal Process, co-authored with Margaret Brazier, maps the criminal processs impact on several key issues in medicine and its arbitration of bioethics. It includes case studies on abortion, end of life and separating conjoined twins. I am the Editor in Chief of the Medical Law Review. Web page
Stephen Wilkinson
Williams, Garrath - Philosophy
My research interests cover ethics, political theory, and applied ethics. In ethics and political theory, I have worked on Kant, Hannah Arendt and the philosophy of responsibility. In bioethics, I am involved in collaborative research on children, health and public policy, including the recently commenced EU-funded project I.Family which investigates diet and health-related behaviours in a large cohort of families across Europe. I have also worked on research ethics and the ethical issues in the storage and research of genetic materials. Web page