Faculty and Staff Directory

Sean A. Valles

• Director and Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice
• Pronouns: he/him/his

Expertise: health equity, philosophy, population health, public health, race, social determinants of health

Karen Kelly-Blake

• Associate Director of Academic Programming, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice
• Associate Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, Department of Medicine
• Pronouns: she/her/hers

Expertise: health services research, shared decision-making, decision aid development and implementation, clinical communication skills and training, mHealth, men’s health, medical workforce policy, health equity, medical education curriculum development, medical education faculty development

Karla Bauer

Unit Administrator

• Pronouns: she/her/hers
• bauerka@msu.edu
• 517-353-5197

Karla Bauer is the Center Administrator/Fiscal Officer. She supports the Center’s Director by managing financial reporting, budget planning and administration, human resources, contract and grant management as well as strategic planning.

Liz McDaniel

Communications Coordinator

• Pronouns: she/her/hers
• mcdan108@msu.edu
• 517-355-3474

Liz McDaniel manages digital media outreach and communications for the Center, including the website and blog, social media, and webinar and podcast series. Liz also provides event planning and faculty support.

Ariel Cascio

• Assistant Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, Department of Medicine
• Pronouns: they/she

Expertise: Disability studies, neuroethics, medical humanities, empirical research on human research ethics, qualitative research, ethnography, cross-cultural studies, autism, neurodiversity, Italy

Leonard Fleck

• University Distinguished Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, Department of Philosophy
• Pronouns: he/him/his

Expertise: medical ethics, health care policy, social and political philosophy, genome technology, precision medicine, health care rationing, democratic deliberation on bioethical issues, public health preparedness, death and dying

Larissa Fluegel

• Assistant Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice
• Learning Society Fellow, CHM West
• Pronouns: she/her/hers

Expertise: medical education, medical ethics, shared decision-making, social context of clinical decisions, social determinants of health, health policy

Monica List

• Assistant Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice
• Pronouns: she/her/hers

Expertise: animal welfare, environmental philosophy, feminist philosophy, food and farming systems, philosophy of science, veterinary medicine

Megh Marathe

• Assistant Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice
• Assistant Professor, Department of Media and Information, College of Communication Arts and Sciences
• Pronouns: they/them/theirs

Expertise: epilepsy, disability, LGBTQIA+ experiences, ethnography, science & technology studies, information studies, social analyses of medical and civic technology, inclusive technology

Jennifer McCurdy

• Assistant Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice
• Pronouns: she/her/hers

Expertise: clinical bioethics consultation, policy-writing, education; application of critical social theories to bioethics: postcolonialism, anti-colonialism, critical race, religious studies; health equity; interdisciplinary bioethics education; critical care ethics

Michelle T. Pham

• Assistant Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, Department of Medicine
• Pronouns: she/her/hers

Expertise: neuroethics, medical ethics, philosophy of science, social epistemology, feminist philosophy

April Baker-Bell

• Adjunct Associate Professor
• Associate Professor of Language, Literacy, and English Education, Department of English, Department of African American and African Studies

Expertise: linguistic justice, antiracist pedagogies, Black language education, anti-Black racism, race consciousness and racial bias literacy in health and medicine

Christopher Contag

• Adjunct Professor
• Director, Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering
• Hannah Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics

Expertise: biomedicine, biomedical engineering, microbiology, molecular imaging, precision health and medicine

Sabrina Ford

• Adjunct Associate Professor
• Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology

Expertise: cancer disparities, cancer prevention and intervention, health behaviors, endometriosis, ademoyosis and liemyomas, STDs and HIV in young women

Karen L. Smith, LMSW, PhD, HEC-C

• Adjunct Associate Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice
• Director of Ethics Integration
• Henry Ford Health
• Pronouns: she/her/hers

Expertise: clinical ethics consultation, hospital policy formation, medical ethics, philosophy, social work

Denise White Perkins, MD, PhD

• Clinical Professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice
• Director, Healthcare Equity Initiatives, Office of System Diversity Equity and Inclusion
• Vice Chair of Academic Affairs, Department of Family Medicine
• Henry Ford Health
• Pronouns: she/her/hers

Expertise: health equity, family medicine, public health, social determinants of health, diabetes, hypertension, patient centered health care, graduate medical education

Judith Andre

Professor Emerita, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, Department of Philosophy

Elizabeth Bogdan-Lovis

Senior Specialist Emerita, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice

Margaret Holmes-Rovner

Professor Emerita, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, Department of Medicine

Tom Tomlinson

Professor Emeritus, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, Department of Philosophy