Professional Ethics at Keele

PEAK Staff

Dr Angus Dawson

Senior Lecturer, Centre for Professional Ethics

Programme Director: PgDip/ MA Medical Ethics and Law

Programme Director: Professional Doctorate

Room : Chancellor's Building, CBC2.025
Email : a.j.dawson@peak.keele.ac.uk
Tel : +44 (0) 1782 734082

I studied for my first degree in Philosophy at the University of Sussex and then for an MSc in Health Care Ethics at the University of Liverpool. I then studied law for a year at the College of Law in Chester, before returning to postgraduate study in the Department of Philosophy at Manchester University where I completed my PhD (a discussion of the methodological foundations of applied ethics). I have been at Keele since 1998, having taught previously at the Universities of Liverpool, Lancaster and Manchester. I was the founding Director of the Centre for Professional Ethics from July 2001 until September 2005. I was then Director of Postgraduate Research for the Research Institute for Law, Politics & Justice. Between 2007 and 2009 I was based at the University of Toronto, first as Faculty Fellow at the centre for Ethics and then as Senior Research Fellow at the Joint Centre for Bioethics.

Please click to go to the following sections on these webpages:

A. Research Interests
B. Books and Edited Collections
C. Publications: Journals and Edited Collections
D. Grants
E. Conference Presentations and Invited Papers
F. External and Professional Service

A. Research Interests

I have three main inter-related research interests briefly outlined below.

1. Public Health Ethics

Most of my current research focuses on public health ethics. I'm interested in the general question what difference (if any) it makes to ethics and policy to think about the health of populations rather than individual patients. The kind of issues I am exploring are, for example: what is 'public health'? Does it make sense to talk about public health as being something separate from the health of the relevant constituent individuals? What would an adequate public health ethics look like? I have presented my work on public health ethics all over the world and have received grants to aid my research from the British Academy, Wellcome Trust, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Center for Disease Control and Toronto University.
Some of my work on public health ethics has been completed in collaboration with Dr. Marcel Verweij, from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Together we are founders and joint editors-in-chief of the international peer-reviewed journal Public Health Ethics. This journal is published by Oxford University Press, and is the first academic journal to focus on the systematic analysis of the moral problems that arise in public health and preventive medicine. We are also joint coordinators of the International Public Health Ethics Network (InterPHEN), a network of the International Association of Bioethics. InterPHEN runs an active email list for those interesting in public health ethics. If you have an interest in public health ethics and would like to become a member then please contact me.

2. Informed Consent: The Empirical and the Normative

Another of my research interests is in problems relating to gaining informed consent, particularly in a research context. This is an application of a more general interest in the relationship between empirical evidence and ethical arguments. Clearly evidence is central to many ethical claims. However, the quality of both evidence and arguments is variable. What constraints are there on the way that ethical arguments can use empirical evidence? Can empirical evidence be used to cast doubt on an ethical argument? How does empirical evidence about professional attitudes or practice relate to ethical issues?

3. The Regulation of Professional Conduct

I have a longstanding interest in the ethics and regulation of professional action. I have written a couple of papers about the role of codes of conduct and their role in ethical action. More recently I've been involved in research into ethical conduct in social work and pharmacy. I am the main grant holder for a project funding by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, which is investigating ethical dilemmas in pharmacy practice. Most of my recent work on this topic has been in relation to the role of research ethics committees in regulating research ethics.

B. Books and Edited Collections

1. Books

Dawson, A. Vaccination Ethics: Law, Public Goods & Public Health. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (forthcoming).

2. Books: Edited Collections

Dawson, A. & Verweij, M. (eds.) (2007) Ethics, Prevention, and Public Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ashcroft, R., Dawson, A., Draper, H., & McMillan, J. (eds.) Principles of Health Care Ethics (2nd ed.), Chichester: Wiley. (2007).
Dawson, A. (ed.) The Philosophy of Public Health, Aldershot: Ashgate (2009).
Dawson, A. (ed.) Public Health Ethics: Key Concepts and Issues in Policy and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2009).
Dawson, A. Donckers, H. & Maes, L. (eds.) Ethics of Health Promotion. Springer. (forthcoming 2009)

C. Publications: Journals and Edited Collections

1. Selected publications on public health ethics

Verweij, M. & Dawson, A. (2004) ‘Ethical principles for collective immunisation programmes’. Vaccine. 22: pp.3122-3126.
Dawson, A. (2004) ‘Vaccination and the prevention problem’, Bioethics, 18, 6: pp. 515-530. Re-published in: The Bioethics Reader: Editors’ choice. (eds). Chadwick, R et al. Oxford Blackwell.
Dawson, A. (2005) 'Therapeutic vaccines: A solution to the prevention problem?' Vaccine. 23; 17-18: 2363-2366.
Dawson, A. (2005) ‘The “Best Interests” argument and childhood vaccination’. Bioethics. 19.2. pp. 187-205.
Dawson, A. (2005) 'An ethical argument in favour of routine hepatitis B vaccination in very low incidence countries such as the UK'. The Lancet: Infectious Diseases. 5 (2): pp120-125.
Paul, Y. & Dawson, A. (2005) 'Some ethical issues arising from polio eradication programmes in India'. Bioethics. 19, 4: 393-406. Also re-published in: Ethics and Infectious Disease, (eds.) Selgelid, M. Battin, M. & Smith, C.B. Oxford: Blackwell. 2006.
Dawson, A. (2005) 'Risk perceptions and ethical public health policy: MMR in the UK'. Poeisis and Praxis Vol.3, No.4: 229-241.
Dawson, A. (2006) 'Understanding ethics in public health'. In Oxford Handbook of Public Health (2nd ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dawson, A. (2006) ‘Genetics and tailor-made diets: some ethical issues’ in M. Kaiser & M. Lien (ed.) Ethics and the Politics of Food. Wageningen, NL: Wageningen Academic Publishers.
Dawson, A. (2007) What are the moral obligations of the traveller in relation to vaccination? Journal of Travel Medicine & Infectious Disease. 5 (2): 90-96.
Dawson, A. & Paul, Y. (2007) 'Mass Public Health Programmes and the Obligations of Sponsoring and Participating Organisations'. Journal of Medical Ethics. 32: 580-583.
Dawson, A. (2007) 'Commentary on the limits of law in the protection of public health and the role of public health ethics'. Public Health. Supplement. The Importance of Law for Public Health Policy and Practice: 77-80.
Dawson, A. (2007) ‘Herd protection as a public good: vaccination and our obligations to others’ in Dawson, A. & Verweij, M. (eds.) (2007) Ethics, Prevention and Public Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Verweij, M. & Dawson, A. (2007) 'The meaning of "public" in 'public health'' in Dawson, A. & Verweij, M. (eds.) (2007) Ethics, Prevention and Public Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dawson, A. & Verweij, M (2007) 'Introduction: ethics, prevention, and public health' in Dawson, A. & Verweij, M. (eds.) (2007) Ethics, Prevention and Public Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dawson, A. (2007) ‘Introduction to Part 3: Medicine in Society’, Ashcroft, R. Dawson, A. Draper, H. & McMillan, J. (eds.) Principles of Health Care Ethics (2nd ed.), Chichester: Wiley.
Dawson, A. ‘Vaccination ethics’, in Ashcroft, R., Dawson, A., Draper, H., & McMillan, J. (eds.) Principles of Health Care Ethics (2nd ed.), Chichester: Wiley. (2007).
Dawson, A. (2007) ‘Food and the Public’s Health’, Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics 20, 3: 225-229.
Dawson, A 'Towards an Account of ‘Fair Use’ of Empirical Evidence in Ethical Arguments: Vaccination, MMR & Disagreement' in M. Häyri, T. Takala and P. Herissone-Kelly, P. (eds.), Arguments and Analysis in Bioethics. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi Publishers. (forthcoming).
Dawson, A. ‘Introduction to a philosophy of public health’ in Dawson, A. (ed.) The Philosophy of Public Health, Aldershot: Ashgate. (2008).
Dawson, A. ‘Resetting the Parameters: Public Health as the Foundation for Public Health Ethics’ in Dawson, A. (ed.) Public Health Ethics: Key Concepts and Issues in Policy and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (forthcoming).
Dawson, A. ‘The ethics of vaccination’ in Dawson, A. (ed.) Public Health Ethics: Key Concepts and Issues in Policy and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (forthcoming).
Dawson, A. ‘Theory and practice in public health ethics: a complex relationship’ in Peckham, S. & Hann, A. Public Health Ethics & Practice. London: Policy Press. (forthcoming).
Dawson, A. ‘Health promotion and health promotion ethics’ in Dawson, A. Donckers, H. & Maes, L. (eds.) Ethics of Health Promotion. Springer. (forthcoming).
University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics Pandemic Ethics Working Group (2008) ‘The duty to care in a pandemic’. American Journal of Bioethics. 8, 8: 31-33.
van Delden JJM, Ashcroft R, Dawson A, Marckmann, G, Upshur R, Verweij, MF. (2008) ‘The ethics of mandatory vaccination against influenza for health care workers’. Vaccine. 26, 44: 5562-5566.
Dawson, A. (2009) ‘Transparency, accountability and vaccination policy’, Journal of Medical Ethics. 35: 274-5.
Dawson, A. ‘Civic, Professional and Personal Obligations in Public Health Emergency Planning and Response’. Commissioned paper for the Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, USA. MMWR. (forthcoming)
Dawson, A. & Verweij, M (2008) Editorial: ‘Public Health Ethics: A Manifesto’. Public Health Ethics. Vol.1 (1): 1-2.
Dawson, A. & Verweij, M. (2008) ‘The steward of the Millian state’. Public Health Ethics. 1, 3: 1-3.
Dawson, A. & Verweij, M. (2009) ‘Public health research ethics: a research agenda’. Public Health Ethics. 2, 1: 1-6.
Dawson, A. (2009) ‘Political philosophy and public health ethics’. Public Health Ethics. 2, 2 (forthcoming)
Dawson, A. & Silva, D. (2009) ‘Suicide prevention: a task for public health?’. Journal of Public Mental Health. (forthcoming)
Dawson, A. (2009) ‘Raw milk: not such a good thing?’, Ontario Public Health Association EBulletin, February 2009.
Dawson, A. (2009) Review of Boylan, M. (2008) International Public Health Policy and Ethics. In: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 6, 2: 251-3.
Dawson, A. (2009) ‘Should we collect race-based statistics?’, Public Health Today, March, 2009.
Dawson, A. (2009) ‘Objections to Fluoridation: Is there something in it?’, Ontario Public Health Association EBulletin, June 2009.

2. Selected publications on consent:

Dawson, A. (2003) ‘Informed consent: Should we insist upon it?’ New Review of Bioethics. Vol.1, No.1, pp.59-71.
Dawson, A. (2004) ‘Methodological reasons for not gaining prior informed consent are sometimes justified’ British Medical Journal. 329. 7457. 10 July 2004. p.87.
Spencer, SA, Dawson, A., Rigby, C., Leighton, N. & Wakefield, J. (2004) ‘Informing patients about research – evaluation of an information leaflet’, Quality in Primary Care. 12: 37-46.
Dawson, A. (2004) 'What should we do about it? Implications of the Empirical Evidence in Relation to Comprehension and Acceptability of Randomisation', in Holm, S. & Jonas, M. (eds.) Engaging the World: The Use of Empirical Research in Bioethics and the Regulation of Biotechnology. Netherlands: IOS Press.
Spencer, SA & Dawson, A. (2004) 'Implications of Informed Consent for Obstetric Research'. Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2004; 6 (3): 163-7.
Dawson, A & Spencer, SA. (2005) 'Informing Patients and Parents about Research'. Archives Dis Child. 90: 233-235.
Dawson, A. (2005) ‘Informed Consent: Bioethical Ideal and Empirical Reality’, in Hayry, M., Takala, T. & Herissone-Kelly, P. (eds.) Bioethics and Social Reality. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi.
Dawson, A & Spencer, SA. (2007) 'Informing Patients about Research'. In O’Brien, PMS. & Pipkin, FB. Introduction to Research Methodology (2nd ed.). London: RCOG Press.
Dawson, A. (2009) ‘The Normative Status of the Requirement to Gain an Informed Consent in Clinical Trials: Comprehension, Obligations and Empirical Evidence’ in Corrigan, O., Liddell, K., McMillan, J., Richards, M. & Weijer, C. (eds.), The Limits of Consent: A Socio-legal Approach to Human Subject Research in Medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

3. The regulation of professional conduct

Dawson, A. (1994) ‘Professional Codes of Practice and Ethical Conduct’, Journal of Applied Philosophy. 11 (2): 145-153.
Dawson, A. (2002) ‘Probation Work: A Human Rights Profession?’, in Ethics and Human Rights in Probation Work, EASWJ.
Dawson, A. & Butler, I. (2003) ‘The Morally Active Manager’ in Managing Care in Context, Routledge/Open University Press.
Dawson, A. (2003) ‘Ethical professionals and CPD’. CPD Spotlight. Vol. 42: 6-7.
Garrard E. & Dawson, A. (2005) 'What is the Role of the REC? Paternalism, Inducements and Harm in Research Ethics'. Journal of Medical Ethics. 31: 419-423.
Dawson, A. (2005) 'The Ad Hoc Advisory Group’s proposals for research ethics committees: a mixture of the timid, the revolutionary and the bizarre'. Journal of Medical Ethics. 31: 435-436.
Deans, Z. & Dawson, A. (2005) 'Pharmacists, codes and ethics', Pharmaceutical Journal. 8th October 2005.
Dawson, A. 'A messy business: qualitative research and ethical review'. Clinical Ethics, 1: 2: 114-116.
Dawson, A & Yentis, S. 'Contesting the Science/Ethics Distinction in the Review of Clinical Research'. Journal of Medical Ethics.33: 165-167.
Yentis, S. & Dawson, A. ‘Medical studies with ‘no material issues’ – a damaging contradiction in terms’. Clinical Ethics.1, 4: 234-236.

4. Miscellaneous Other Publications

Dawson, A. (1998) ‘Psychopharmacology’ in R. Chadwick (ed.) Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics Volume 3; pp.727-734 Academic Press.
Dawson, A. (1999) ‘Advance Directives’ in C. Dowrick & L. Frith (eds.) General Practice and Ethics: Uncertainty & Responsibility. Routledge. pp.150-171.
Laurence, S., Margolis, E. & Dawson, A. (1999) ‘Moral Realism and Twin Earth’, Facta Philosophica; 1 (1), pp.135-165.
Dawson, A. (2002) ‘Non-Treatment Decisions; the Need to Define Best Interests’ in Crompton, S. (ed.) Vital Judgments: Ethical Decision Making at the End of Life. London: National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Services.
Dawson, A. (2002) ‘Genetic Knowledge and Changing Responsibilities: A Challenge to Liberal Individualism?’ in Verweij, M. & van den Hoven, M. (eds.) Genomics: Knowledge Triggering Responsibility. The Hague: NWO: Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.
Dawson, A. (2004) ‘The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority: Policy Making in a Contested Context’, Health Care Analysis. 12.1: 1-8.
George, S. & Dawson, A. (2004) ‘Management for Psychiatrists – demystifying the business plan’. Psychiatric Bulletin. 28: 418-420.
Dawson, A. & Garrard, E. (2006) 'In defence of moral imperialism: four equal and universal prima facie duties'. Journal of Medical Ethics. 32, 4: 200-204.
Dawson, A. & Wilkinson, S. (2009) ‘Philosophical Clinical Ethics’. Clinical Ethics. 4: 36-37.

D. Grants

NWO, Netherlands: Genomics Project. ‘Genetic Knowledge and Changing Responsibilities’ (1000 euros). Awarded Summer 2002.
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain: ‘Ethical Dilemmas in Pharmacy Practice’. (£76,000). Awarded October 2002.
British Academy: Overseas Conference Grant: ‘Vaccination and the prevention problem’ (£775). Awarded June 2004.
Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation: ‘A Comparison of Vaccination Policies in Japan and the UK’. (£1000). Awarded Summer 2004.
North Staffs R & D Consortium: ‘An Evaluation of a Leaflet about Participation in Medical Research’. (£3000). Awarded Summer 2004.
Arts & Humanities Research Council. Collaborative Doctoral Award (with Zoe Whittington, RSPGB) ‘Ethical issues relating to public health interventions in pharmacy practice’ (funding for three years PhD studentship and fees. Approx £45,000). Awarded April 2005.
British Academy: Overseas Conference Grant: ‘The moral justification of compulsory childhood vaccinations’ (£700). Awarded June 2005.
Wellcome Trust: Workshop Grant: ‘Ethical Issues related to Contagious Disease Control’ – Held in Beijing, 4th August 2006. (£4,800). Awarded May 2006.
British Academy: Overseas Conference Grant: ‘ “Global public goods” and normative claims about global health’ (£600). Awarded June 2006.
University of Toronto, Canada: Faculty Fellowship/Visiting Professor. (Canadian $50,000).
Center for Disease Control, US: ‘Ethical Obligations in Emergency Planning & Response’ ($1000). Commissioned paper. July 2007.
Arts & Humanities Research Board: Collaborative Research Training Award. ‘Application, Analysis & Engagement: Developing Research Skills in Applied Ethics’. (£50,912).
University of Toronto, Canada: Senior Research Fellowship (Canadian $60,000)
Wellcome Trust. Developing World Seminar Grant. ‘The Ethics of TB Prevention and Treatment’ (£4,900).
Wellcome Trust. Clinical Fellowship Project: ‘Making medical decisions for children: a philosophical approach’. (£267, 903). Awarded November 2008. Co-PI and research mentor.
Public Health Agency of Canada: ‘Project funding: From theory to education: Ethics and Quarantine. Ethical issues in the use of restrictive measures for communicable disease control’. ($Can 9450) Co-PI (with Ross Upshur).
Public Health Agency of Canada: ‘Project funding: Building public health ethics from the ground up’. ($Can 9450) Co-PI (with Ross Upshur).
Public Health Agency of Canada: ‘Project funding: Towards a model curriculum for public health’ ($Can 9450) Co-PI (with Ross Upshur).
CIHR Operating Grant: ‘Facilitating access to health data for research and planning in light of laws and ethical norms’. Co-applicant with Don Willison, Vivek Goel and others. ($Can 772,911)

E. Conference Presentations and Invited Papers

1. Invited Papers and Keynotes:

Centre for Social Ethics and Policy, University of Manchester. ‘Competence, Risk of Harm, and Justifiable Intervention’ (March, 2000). Invited
National Council for Hospice & Specialist Palliative Care Services Workshop, Leeds. ‘Non-treatment Decisions: The Need to Define "Best Interests"’ (May 2000). Invited
Human Rights in Relation to Public Health and Bioethics, Sheffield University Workshop. ‘The determination of “best interests” in relation to childhood vaccinations’. (18th July 2001). Invited
International Association of Social Workers of Justice, Frankfurt, Germany. ‘Personality Disorders & Risk: Ethical Issues’ (October, 2001). Invited
Conference on the Ethics of Public Health, Utrecht Netherlands. ‘Third-Party Harm Arguments and the Obligation to Vaccinate’ (May, 2002) Invited
Informed Consent Workshop, Kings College, Cambridge. ‘Informed Consent, Possibility and Moral Obligations’. (23rd March, 2004) Invited
Manchester University, Philosophy Department Seminar. ‘Herd protection as a public good: Vaccination and our obligations to others’ (May 2004) Invited
Centre for Medical Ethics & Law, Tokyo University. ‘Vaccination policies: some ethical issues’. (5th October, 2004) Invited
Genetically Tailor-Made Diets: Future Prospects & Ethical Challenges, Utrecht, Netherlands. ‘Screening, ethics & diet’ (13th-14th January, 2005) Invited
7th Global Vaccinology International Forum, Dubai, UAE. ‘The “prevention problem”: Ethical objections to preventive vaccination policies’ (5th-7th March 2005) Invited
Joint Stockholm-Uppsala Bioethics Seminar, Stockholm, Sweden. ‘Comprehension of Randomisation: The need for Normative Revision’ (21st March 2005) Invited
ESRC Seminar Series, Keele University, UK. ‘HIV: A problem for all’ (10th December 2005). Invited
Lent Lecture Series, Kings College London. ‘Children’s vaccinations, best interests and parental disagreement’ (26th January 2006). Invited
Symposium on Moral Theory and Health Care Ethics, Galway, Eire. ‘Informed Consent, Randomisation and RCTs’ (9th March 2006). Invited
Strep B Trial Protocol Ethics Group, NPEU, Oxford University. ‘The ethics of cluster randomized trials’ (22nd March, 2006) Invited
Society of Applied Philosophy Workshop, Lancaster University. ‘Informed consent in “frontier” medical research: some epistemic and ethical issues’ (11th April, 2006). Invited
VIII Annual Symposium on Biomedicine, Ethics and Society, Sandhamn, Stockholm archipelago, Sweden. ‘Is informed consent always necessary?’ (12-13 June 2006) Invited
Annual Intensive Course on Medical Ethics, Imperial College, London. ‘Teaching medical ethics’ (18 - 22 September 2006). Invited
Cambridge Bioethics Forum, Cambridge University. ‘“Global public goods” and normative claims about global health’ (17th October 2006) Invited
Joint Centre for Bioethics, Toronto, Canada. ‘ “Global public goods” and normative claims about global health’. (15th November, 2006). Invited
Johns Hopkins University Vaccines Group. ‘Human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination: Some ethical issues’. (20th November, 2006). Invited
Georgetown University, School of Law, Washington DC. ‘Children’s vaccinations, best interests and parental disagreement’ and ‘“Global public goods” and normative claims about global health’ (21st November, 2006). Invited
Gauhati University, India, Politics Department. ‘What is “Public Health Ethics”?’ (6th March, 2007) Invited
Gauhati University, India, Law Department. ’Legal & Ethical Issues relaing to Routine Polio Vaccination in India’. (7th March, 2007) Invited
Infectious Diseases Research Network. ’Ethical Issues Related to the Use of Human Tissue in Research’ (9th March, 2007) Invited
European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (EACPR) Annual Conference, Madrid. ’Ethics and Clincial Trials’. (21st April, 2007). Invited
Ulster Univeristy, Science in Society Lecture. ‘Children’s vaccinations, best interests and parental disagreement’ (24th April, 2007). Invited
Professional Associations Research Network, Ethical Competence Workshop. Teaching Ethics to Professionals: Problems & Pitfalls. (26th April, 2007). Invited
Infectious Disease Symposium, Oxford University. Tuberculosis and the ethical justification of the ‘least restrictive alternative’. (4th July, 2007) Invited
Setting an Ethical Agenda for Health Promotion Conference, Ghent, Belgium. ‘Closing address: in defence of health promotion’ (20th September, 2007). Invited
Centre for Ethics Seminar Series, Toronto University. ’In Defence of Health Promotion: Preference Change, Paternalism & the Good Life’. (10th October, 2007). Invited
Canadian Roundtable on Public Health Ethics, Montreal, Canada. Universalism, Pluralism and Public Health Ethics. (9th November, 2007). Invited
JCB, University of Toronto, Canada. ‘Children’s vaccinations, parental disagreement and the limitation of the “best interests” test.’ (9th January, 2008). Invited.
Philosophy Seminar, University of Western Ontario, Canada. ‘Ethical Obesity Policy: Paternalism, Preference Change & the Good Life.’ (15th February, 2008). Invited
Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Canada. “Global Public Goods” and Normative Claims about Global Health (18th March, 2008). Invited.
Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa. ‘Mapping Ethical Obligations in Relation to Vaccinations’ (19th March, 2008). Invited.
University of Toronto Public Health Ethics, Law & Policy Seminar. ‘Some Ethical and Policy Issues relating to HPV Vaccination Campaigns’ (20th March, 2008). Invited.
Sick Kids Bioethics Seminar, Toronto. ‘Routine Childhood Vaccination: Some Ethical Issues’. (17th April, 2008). Invited.
Sunnybrook Health Services/Toronto Women’s Hospital, Toronto. ‘Individual and Collective Obligations in Relation to Vaccination’. (29th April, 2008). Invited.
CDC PHEPR Seminar, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh. ‘Civic, Professional and Personal Obligations in Public Health Emergency Planning and Response’. (4th May, 2008). Invited.
Global Health Challenges in an Unequal World Colloquium, Centre for International Health, Toronto. ‘Global Public Goods: Ethics, Economics & Global Justice’ (9th May, 2008). Invited.
ISBNPA Annual Conference, Banff, Alberta. ‘Paternalistic Preference Change and Ethical Obesity Policy’ (22nd May, 2008) Invited
Health Law Seminar, University of Alberta, Edmonton. ‘Health, Obesity and Paternalistic Public Policy’. (25th May, 2008). Invited.
Ottawa Public Health Research Ethics Workshop. ‘Ethical Issues in Relation to Vaccination Policies’. (26th May, 2008). Invited.
Canadian Public Health Association Annual Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia. ‘Infectious Disease, Inequalities and Justice’ (4th June, 2008). Invited.
IAB 9th Congress, Croatia. ‘The obesogenic society and the myth of individual freedom’ (5th September, 2008) Invited
IAB 9th Congress, Croatia. ‘Public health ethics and the need to revise bioethics’ (8th September, 2008) Invited
EU Workshop Eurobese, Ghent, Belgium. ‘State neutrality and obesity policy’ (9th October, 2008) Invited
Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada. ‘Two myths about obesity policy’ (26th November, 2008) Invited
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, NYC. ‘Ethical obesity policy’ (4th March, 2009) Invited
Center for Bioethics, New York University. ‘The least restrictive alternative and foundational values in public health ethics’ (6th March, 2009). Invited.
UAEM-IDEA Workshop: Universities, Innovation and Global Medicine Access, University of Toronto. ‘Incorporating the research needs of the global south’ (21st April, 2009). Invited.
Canadian Bioethics Society Annual Conference, Hamilton, Canada. ‘Public health ethics: from the ground up’ (14th June, 2009). Invited.
McLaughlin-Rotman Global Health Group. ‘Polio vaccination in India’ (16th June, 2009). Invited.
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada. ‘Values in public health policy’ (18th June, 2009). Invited.

2. Peer-reviewed Presentations

XVIth European Conference on Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care, Malta. ‘Towards an account of ‘fair use’ of empirical evidence in ethical arguments’ (August, 2002)
6th IAB World Congress of Bioethics, Brasilia, Brazil. ‘Risk Perceptions and Ethical Public Health Policy’ (November, 2002).
130th Meeting of the American Public Health Association, Philadelphia. ‘What role should public attitudes play in public health policies?’ (November, 2002).
XVIIth European Conference on Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care, Vilnius. ‘Evidence based Ethics’ (August, 2003).
131st Meeting of the American Public Health Association, San Francisco. ‘Consenting to participation in a randomised controlled trial’ (November, 2003)
Perceptions and Evaluations of Gene Technology, Linkoping: Sweden. ‘Gaining informed consent in “frontier” medical research’ (December, 2003).
Health Protection Agency Annual Conference, Warwick University. ‘Risk perceptions and ethical public health policy: MMR as a case study’ (September 2004)
4th World Congress on Vaccines & Immunisation, Tsukuba, Japan. ‘Therapeutic vaccine and the prevention problem’. (3rd October, 2004)
7th IAB World Congress of Bioethics, Sydney, Australia. ‘Vaccination, prevention and disease’. (10th November, 2004)
Genetically Tailor-Made Diets: Future Prospects & Ethical Challenges, Utrecht, Netherlands. ‘Screening, ethics & diet’ (13th-14th January, 2005)
1st World Conference on Public Health Law & Ethics (WCPHLE), Seoul, Korea. ‘The Moral Justification of Compulsory Childhood Vaccinations’. (15th-19th August 2005)
XIXth European Conference on Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care, Barcelona, Spain. ‘Gaining informed consent in “frontier” medical research’ (August, 2005).
1st International Conference of the Journal of Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, London, UK. ‘What are the moral obligations of the traveller in relation to vaccinations?’ (10th-11th November 2005)
EURSAFE 2006 Conference, Oslo, Norway. ‘Genetics and Tailor-Made Diets: Some Ethical Issues’ (22nd – 24th June, 2006).
8th IAB World Congress of Bioethics, Beijing, China. ‘“Global public goods” and normative claims about global health’ (6th-9th August 2006).
Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, Keele University, UK (with Prof. Robyn Martin) ‘A moral argument for reform of UK public health law’ (4th September 2006).
Health Protection Agency, Annual Conference, Warwick University, UK. ‘HPV Vaccination: Some Ethical Issues’ (11th-13th September 2006).
EACME ‘New Pathways for European Bioethics’ Conference, Leuven, Belgium. ‘Informed Consent, Empirical Evidence, and the Need for Normative Revision’. (September 28-30 2006)
134th Meeting of the American Public Health Association, Boston, USA. ‘Human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination: Some ethical issues’. (4th-8th November, 2006).
WCVII 2006 Montreal, Canada. ‘Human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination: Some ethical issues’. (November 6th-9th, 2006).
Keele University, Professional Codes Workshop. Some Scepticims about the Regulation of Ethical Behviour (29th November, 2006)
Keele University, Informed Consent Workshop. In Defence of Cluster Randomised Trials. (6th February, 2007)
European Conference on Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care, Cardiff. ‘Cluster Randomised Trials: Methodology, Legitimacy and Consent’. (15th August, 2007)
EACME Annual Conference 2007, Zurich, Switzerland. ‘Best Interests and Childhood Vaccinations’ (15th September, 2007).
2nd National Bioethics Conference, Bangalore, India. ‘Mass Public Health Interventions in India: Some Ethical Issues’. (6th December, 2007).
Centre for Ethics/JCB, University of Toronto, Canada. ‘Some scepticism about the principle of “the least restrictive alternative”’. (6th February, 2008).
Canadian Bioethics Society Annual Conference, St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador. ‘Canada, Obesity, and Paternalistic Public Policy’ (18th June, 2008)
IAB 9th Congress, Croatia. ‘TB and the least restrictive alternative’ (5th September, 2008)
Canadian Bioethics Society Annual Conference, Hamilton, Canada. ‘Milk: a neglected ethical issue’ (13th June, 2009).

3. Invited Participant in Research Workshops:

Wellcome Trust Summer School, Hinxton, Cambridge. September 2001.
7th Global Forum on Bioethics in Research, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan (17th –19th February, 2006). The Ethics of Cluster Randomized Trials.
ESRC Workshop, Governing Medical Practice and Research. (18th January, 2007).
Public Health Ethics Conference. University of Birmingham. (16th – 18th May 2007).

4. Invited Participant in Live Television Discussion

TVO: ‘The Agenda with Steve Paikin’. Discussion of government public health policy, with a particular focus on smoking. Broadcast: 21st January 2009.

F. External and Professional Service

1. I am currently:

Joint Founder and Editor-in-Chief (with Marcel Verweij) of Public Health Ethics. An international peer-reviewed academic journal, published by Oxford University Press.
Board member of International Association of Bioethics, 2007-2012
Joint Coordinator (with Marcel Verweij ) of the International Public Health Network (InterPHEN)
Member, Airwave Health Monitoring Ethical Governance Committee, Home Office, UK 2005-
Member of the World Health Organisation’s Task Force on Ethics and TB Control
Member, Ontario Childhood Healthy Weights Surveillance Steering Committee, 2009-
Member, Ontario Population Cohort Study Ethics Working Group, 2008-2010
Member, Scientific Committee, 10th Congress of the International Association of Bioethics, Singapore, July 2010.
Editorial Board member, Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2008-
Editorial Board member, Journal of Travel Medicine & Infectious Disease, 2006-
Editorial Board member, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 2006-
Member, International Advisory Board, International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, 2009-
Editorial Board member, Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, 2008-

2. In the past I have been:

Chair of the Wellcome Trust Summer School on ‘Public Health Ethics’, September 2007
Lay Member, Shropshire Local Research Ethics Committee, 2004-6
External Examiner, MSc in the Ethics of Health Care, Liverpool University. 2002-6
External Examiner, MSc Medical Ethics, Imperial College London. 2003-7
External Examiner, MA Philosophy & Public Policy, 2006-7
Editorial Board member, Journal of Adult Protection, 2005-2007
Joint editor of the IAB’s newsletter, 2007-2008
External Advisor, Validation Panel for BA (Hons) Philosophy & Ethics, St. Martin’s College, Lancaster, 2006.
External Reviewer, Periodic Quality Review, Institute for Philosophy & Public Policy, Lancaster University, 2007.
I have also examined a number of MPhil and PhD theses

3. I have refereed over one hundred papers over the last few years for the following academic journals:

Journal of Medical Ethics
British Medical Journal
Nurse Researcher
International Journal of Pharmacy Practice
Bioethics
Developing World Bioethics
Health Care Analysis
Social Science and Medicine
Journal of Applied Philosophy
Journal of Moral Philosophy
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice
International Journal of Law in Context
Philosophical Papers
Clinical Ethics
Medical Journal of Australia
Lancet: Infectious Diseases
Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics
Canadian Journal of Public Health
Health: an Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness & Medicine
American Journal of Public Health
Vaccine
The Lancet
Journal of Health Politics, Policy & Law
Medicine, Health Care & Philosophy
British Medical Bulletin
International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics
McGill Journal of Law and Health
Journal of Global Ethics
International Journal for Equity in Health
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

4. I have refereed grants for:

Nuffield Foundation
Royal Liverpool Children’s NHS Trust R&D Office
Wellcome Trust
British Academy
UK National Institute for Health, Final Grant Report Assessor
UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw)
Cancer Research UK

5. I have refereed books and book/journal proposals for:

Cambridge University Press
Kluwer
Springer
Polity
Wiley
Blackwell
Oxford University Press
Routledge

6. I have refereed abstracts for the following international conferences:

Society for Applied Philosophy Annual Conference, Manchester, UK (2006)
Canadian Society of Bioethics Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada (2007)
Ethics in Health Promotion, Ghent, Belgium (2007)
Public Health Ethics, Birmingham (2007).
Canadian Society of Bioethics Annual Conference, St. John’s, Canada (2008)
American Public Health Association (2009)

7. I have organised a number of workshops and conferences (many with subsequent publication of the papers in peer reviewed journals etc) as follows:

The Regulation of Human Reproduction. Papers published in: Health Care Analysis (2004) 12.1.
Health Care Resources. Papers published in: Health Care Analysis (2006).
Food Ethics and the Public's Health. Papers published in: Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics (2006)
Children and the Concept of 'Best Interests'. 5th May 2006.
Society for Applied Philosophy Annual Conference. The Philosophy of Public Health. Manchester, UK. 30th June-2nd July 2006
International Network for Public Health Ethics (InterPHEN). Ethical Issues in Infectious Disease Control. A satellite workshop of the International Association of Bioethics 8th World Congress in Beijing, China in August 2006.
Professional Codes – Ethical Behaviour: (with Andrew Francis) November 2006
Informed Consent: Some Critical Philosophical Voices: February 2007
On the concept of “public health”. Cardiff. August, 2007.
Therapeutic Detention in the Age of Suspicion (with Melissa Williams & Ross Upshur): Toronto. February 2008.
Philosophy & Public Policy (with Suzanne Uniacke, David Archard): British Academy, London, UK. March 2008. Ethical issues in TB prevention, control and treatment. IAB. Croatia. September 2008
Political philosophy’s role in public health ethics. Manchester, UK. September 2008
Obesity Policy and Ethics, Roundtable, Toronto, Canada, December 2008
Public Health Ethics & Policy, Toronto, Canada, December 2008
Pregnancy, Ethics and Public Health. Toronto, Canada. March 2009 (with Ann Robertson and Trudo Lemmens)