Audiey Kao, MD, PhD
Vice President, Ethics Group
Audiey Kao, MD, PhD, graduated magna cum laude from the University of California at Berkeley with degrees in biochemistry and economics. He received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and completed his residency training in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Kao is a board certified internist and is also currently on staff in the Section of General Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago Hospital.
Dr. Kao earned a PhD in Health Policy from Harvard University, where he was a fellow of the Health Services Research Program of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. Dr. Kao’s thesis research focused on trust in the patient-physician relationship in different health care delivery environments. This work was conducted at the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School in collaboration with the Prudential Center for Health Care Research. Current research and policy interests focus on issues about patient-physician communication, the role of professional associations in the health care system, economic disclosure of financial incentives, and the allocation of finite health care resources.
Bette-Jane Crigger, PhD
Director, Ethics Policy
Bette Crigger came to the AMA from the National Center for Ethics in Health Care at the Veterans Health Administration in Washington, DC, where she served as chief of ethics communications with editorial responsibility for all center publications. During her tenure with VA (2003–2007), Dr. Crigger also served as a member of the development team for IntegratedEthics, a national education and organizational change initiative. In addition, she was primary staff researcher and writer for VHA's National Ethics Committee and worked with the committee to develop reports on a wide range of topics, including online patient-clinician messaging, compensation to health care professionals from industry, palliative sedation, and surrogate-clinician relationships, among others.
Prior to her appointment with VA, Dr. Crigger was a member of the professional staff of The Hastings Center. Dr. Crigger joined the Hastings Center editorial staff in 1986, becoming associate editor of the Hastings Center Report in 1988. She served as senior editor of the Report and managing editor of IRB: A Review of Human Subjects Research from 1990 to 2000, and as senior editor of the revamped IRB: Ethics & Human Research from 2000 to 2002. Dr. Crigger also served as executive editor of the Hastings Center's Web site, overseeing redesign of the site in 2002. In addition to her editorial work, Dr. Crigger participated regularly in center research projects, including explorations of ethical issues in emerging genetic technologies, managed health care, agricultural biotechnology, and the clinician-patient relationship in cancer care and research. Since February 2003 she has served on the Performance and Safety Monitoring Board of The HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, NY State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University.
Dr. Crigger holds a PhD in anthropology and linguistics from The University of Chicago.William J. Filstead, PhD
Program Director, Innovative Strategies for Transforming the Education of Physicians, Ethics Group
William J. Filstead, PhD graduated from St. Joseph College, Indiana with a BS in sociology and received his MA and PhD in sociology from the University of Hawaii and Northwestern University respectively. Prior to joining the AMA, Dr. Filstead was a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the Department of Psychiatry at Northwestern University Medical School where he was the Director of Research for the Institute of Psychiatry. He has held senior management positions at Parkside Medical Services, part of the Lutheran General HealthSystem where he was a vice-president for research. Dr. Filstead was also the president of Performance-Based Outcomes, Inc a health service research company. Dr. Filstead has published in the areas of addictions, mental health services, program evaluation design and is currently focusing on disability and caregiving issues. He has received numerous grant awards to support his research and has consulted with a variety of health care organizations as well as serving on various NIH grant review panels The project he directs at the AMA will focus on developing an evidence based research platform to assess the impact of medical education on the development of competent and caring physicians and the impact of these efforts on patient outcomes and the overall health of the public.
Faith Lagay, PhD
Director, Ethics Resource Center
Faith Lagay, PhD came to the AMA as a Fellow at the Institute for Ethics in 2000. She joined the staff of the Ethics Resource Center (ERC) as a senior research associate in 2002 and became director of the ERC in 2003. In that role, she directs the development of products and programs that help medical students, medical educators, and physicians study and teach ethics and professionalism in medicine.
Dr. Lagay has a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University, a master’s in English from the University of Houston, and a doctorate in the medical humanities from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. She has many years of experience as a writer and university-level teacher of composition and literature. She has published in the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Medical Humanities Review, The Lancet, and Free Inquiry,and has a chapter in Reading Engelhardt: Essays on the Thought of H. Tristram Engelhardt. Dr. Lagay has a keen interest in educating the medical community and the public about medical issues that demand public policy decisions. Pursuing this goal entails a commitment to the principles of deliberative democracy and its roots in the humanist tradition.
Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH
Director, Institute for Ethics
Dr. Wynia was appointed a Section Director in the Institute for Ethics at its inception in 1997, promoted to Assistant Vice-President in March 1999 and named the Director of the Institute in May 2000. The mission of the Institute is to foster the health care of patients and the public by promoting the integrated place of ethics in medicine through research and educational outreach. As Director of the Institute, Dr. Wynia oversees the Institute’s Fellowship and Visiting Scholar Programs and a wide range of research projects on topics including: physicians’ responses to utilization review and market pressures in medicine comparing the codes of ethics of medical professional associations and the ethics-related policies of healthcare organizations exploring physician professionalism and the role of professionals in society and creating performance measures for health care ethics. Research that Dr. Wynia has led at the Institute for Ethics has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and other leading medical journals, and featured on news programs including ABC News Nightline, NPR’s All Things Considered, and the BBC World Service. Dr. Wynia also practices internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Chicago Hospitals, where he is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine.
Dr. Wynia received his BA from the University of Oregon’s Honors College with majors in Philosophy and Biology. His undergraduate thesis was entitled “Paternalism in Medicine.” He received his MD from the Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine in Portland and then moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he was an Intern, Resident, and Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at the Deaconess Hospital. Dr. Wynia went on to complete a fellowship in Infectious Diseases and an AHCPR Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Health Services Research at Tufts University/New England Medical Center and he received his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health in Health Policy and Management. The 1996 winner of the AFCR Nellie Westerman Prize for Research in Ethics, Dr. Wynia has developed innovative uses of health services research methods to advance the research agenda of ethics in medicine. Institute researchers employ physician surveys, decision analysis modeling, game theory, and the creation of unique data sets using systematic review techniques to examine today’s pressing questions of health care ethics.
Kyle Dunn
Research Assistant
Kyle Dunn joined the Institute for Ethics in August 2008. Currently an M.H.S. candidate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Mr. Dunn supports several clinical ethics research initiatives, including a study of prescribed medical enhancements. While on campus in Baltimore, Mr. Dunn concentrated his coursework in health policy, and pursued certificates in both the risk sciences and public health preparedness. He previously held research positions at the National Defense University in Washington, DC, and the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, VA, supporting separate contracts with the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Dunn received a B.S. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from Yale College in 2003.
Jorie Epstein
iSTEP Staff Assistant, Ethics Group
Jorie Epstein joined the Ethics Group in September of 2007 and serves as an assistant to the iSTEP team.
Jorie is currently a fourth year undergraduate at the University of Chicago, majoring in psychology. Her interests include stereotyping and affective judgment, social cognition, interpersonal relations, and experimental research. She is currently working with Dr. Joshua Correll at the University of Chicago on her undergraduate thesis project that examines prototyping in judgment & decision-making. In the future, she hopes to earn a PhD in psychology and continue on in research. In particular, she would like to apply her background in stereotype research to initiatives for overcoming prejudice and reforming public policy.
Todd Ferguson, MA, PhD
Research Associate-Education Specialist
Todd Ferguson, PhD, joined the Ethics group in June 2008. Dr. Ferguson teaches and oversees other faculty who teach ethics courses in the AMA-MCW (Medical College of Wisconsin) online Fellowship Program on Physician Ethics and Professionalism. He is also responsible for expanding the educational programming and increasing the student population in the Fellowship Program. Dr. Ferguson’s other responsibilities include developing ethics educational programming for continuing physician professional development programs and developing and implementing online/multimedia ethics educational programming for medical students, residents, and young physicians based on the AMA Code of Medical Ethics.
Prior to joining the AMA, Dr. Ferguson served as a public health program and policy advisor for a health science research firm. His experience included work on a variety of subject matters, including HIV/AIDS, youth violence, health communication, and peer review research programs for clients such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the World Health Organization.
Dr. Ferguson received his BA (cum laude) from Trinity University with majors in English and philosophy. He received his MA and PhD in philosophy from Purdue University, specializing in social and political philosophy and applied ethics. His dissertation, Cosmopolitan Solidarity: Social-Political Integration in an Era of Globalization, explores how the various processes of globalization (social, political, economic, cultural) disrupt traditional forms of social and political integration and require new dynamic forms of transnational integration.
Megan Johnson
Research Assistant, Institute for Ethics
Megan Johnson joined the Institute for Ethics in September, 2005. She assists with the Ethical Force program, an effort to develop performance measures for ethical behavior across the health care system. Prior to joining the Institute, Megan was working on her masters degree in Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her BA in French from Eastern Illinois University in 1999.
Daniel Kim
Senior Research Assistant, CEJA
Daniel Kim joined CEJA staff in June 2008. He assists the Council by researching and developing policy reports on issues in medical and public health ethics. He also responds to inquiries concerning AMA ethics policy.
Daniel graduated from Yale University in 2008 with Master of Public Health and Master of Arts in Religion (ethics) degrees. His MPH. thesis was a graduate level course proposal on ethical issues in international health research. Prior to joining the AMA, Daniel served as a member of the Yale School of Medicine IRB, and worked as a part-time research assistant on projects addressing opioid overdose mortality and HIV prevention among sex workers in India.
Philip Perry, MSJ, MA
Research Assistant, Ethics Resource Center
Phil Perry joined the Ethics Resource Center in 2003. Previously he was an independent editor for book publishers in health care, political science, education, philosophy, and religion. Mr. Perry was a contributing editor to Materials Management in Health Care(American Hospital Assn./Health Forum Publishing) 1992-2001, and senior editor of Health Care Strategic Management, a national newsletter, 1990-91. He authored Opportunities in Mental Health Care Careers (VGM/Tribune Education 1996). Mr. Perry earned an MSJ in editorial journalism from Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, and an MA in classical literature from Indiana University.
Jennifer Reenan, MD
Senior Research Associate, Institute for Ethics
Jennifer Reenan, MD, is lending her experience and expertise as a recent medical school graduate to the Ethics Resource Center’s STEP program (Strategies for Teaching & Educating Professionalism). In addition to her concern for the development and evaluation of new methods of teaching professionalism to medical students, Dr. Reenan has a keen interest in the medical humanities.
Dr. Reenan received her MD from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in May 2003. While in medical school, she worked with faculty in the Department of Pediatrics on a developing approaches for addressing the problem of childhood obesity at the community level.
Prior to medical school, Dr. Reenan received a bachelor of arts with honors in history and literature from Harvard University. Her undergraduate thesis was entitled “The Uses and Abuses of Alcohol in the Works of Thomas Hardy.” She also studied Spanish language and literature at the Fundacion Jose Ortega y Gasset in Toledo, Spain.
Kristin Schleiter, JD
Senior Research Associate, Ethics Policy
Kristin Schleiter joined CEJA staff in June 2008. She assists the Council by analyzing ethics policy and law and by assisting in the development and dissemination of ethics policy and related educational material.
Prior to joining the AMA, Ms. Schleiter was an associate with the law firm of LaRose & Bosco, Ltd. Her areas of concentration included insurance defense, commercial law, and personal injury litigation.
After earning a BA in Biology and Philosophy from Illinois Wesleyan University, Ms. Schleiter received a JD from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. While at Loyola, Ms. Schleiter was a member of and contributing writer for the Annals of Health Law. Ms. Schleiter is currently working toward completion of an LLM in Health Law.
Jenny Schooley
Assistant Editor
Jenny Schooley joined the Ethics Resource Center in August 2008. She assists with Virtual Mentor, the online ethics journal, in an effort to provide ethics education to students, residents, and other physicians that are likely to confront ethical dilemmas in their training and daily practice. Prior to joining the AMA, Ms. Schooley was a managing editor for five commercial trade publications at SmithBucklin Corp., the world's largest association management company. She received her BA in English from the University of Northern Iowa.
Kelly Shaw
Supervisor of Administrative Staff, Ethics Group
Kelly Shaw joined the Ethics staff in March 2007. He is responsible for assisting the Vice President with activities related to planning, budgeting, and administering AMA initiatives, coordinating the administrative needs of the Ethics Group, hiring of personnel, supervising support staff, coordinating meetings and writing assignments.
Kelly received a BA in English from Columbia University. His background includes 11 years of administrative and writing experience.
Jennie M. Simon
Web Editor, Ethics Group
Jennie joined the Ethics Group as a temporary worker in October 2005 and since January 2006, she has been regular full time employee, editing and publishing content for the Ethics Group including monthly editions of Virtual Mentor.
With 13 years of Web site design and development experience, she came to us from GTAM Enterprises where she was self employed as a consultant with a very impressive client list. Jennie also has experience in multimedia development, desk top publishing, technical writing, and editing. She received her BA in Elementary Education from the University of Illinois.
Rebecca Shore
Senior Research Assistant, CEJA
Rebecca Shore joined CEJA staff in March 2006. She assists the Council by researching ethics topics of medical interest and developing policy regarding these issues. She also responds to inquiries concerning AMA ethics policy.
Rebecca is a 2004 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where she majored in Biological Basis of Behavior. Prior to arriving at the AMA, Rebecca worked as a senior research assistant at Harris Interactive, a market research firm in New York City where she did survey research on a variety of Healthcare and Policy issues.
Svetlana Surkevicius
Staff Assistant
Svetlana Surkevicius joined the Institute for Ethics in October of 2007. She coordinates the administrative duties for the staff of the Institute for Ethics.
Ms. Surkevicius received a B.A. in Art History with a minor in Fine Art from Roosevelt University after completing an internship at the Chicago Conservation Center. She has exhibited an illustrated children's story at the Alliance Francaise in Chicago as part of a project for the University of Chicago Publishing Program. In recent years she has published a few articles on art. She also studied piano for eight years at the American Conservatory of Music, painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and French at L'Ecole des Roches in Verneuil-sur-Avre, Normandie, France.
Olubukunola M. Tawose
Research Assistant
Olubukunola M. Tawose first joined the Ethics Group as an intern in 2006. She currently provides research support for ISTEP.
O. Mary is a second-year law student at Saint Louis University School of Law, where she is a Health and International Law Concentrator. She is currently involved in a study entitled “Teaching Professionalism” and research project involving health care facilities and ethics consults. In 2007, she graduated with an AB in the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine from the University of Chicago. In the future she plans to earn an MA in Bioethics and she will pursue a career in the field of medical ethics policy.
Thomas Wagner
Administrative Assistant, Ethics Policy
Tom Wagner joined CEJA staff in December 2005. He assists the Council and its staff with administrative duties, including meeting planning, budgeting, Web site maintenance, and publication and distribution of the Code of Medical Ethics. He is also responsible for processing inquiries concerning AMA ethics policy.
Mr. Wagner received a BGS in Public Administration in 1990 and a certificate in Meeting Planning, Conference and Exposition in 1998, both from Roosevelt University. Prior to arriving at the AMA, he worked for AIAChicago and the American Judicature Society.
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