John Rief received a BA in 2005 from Regis University, with majors in philosophy and communication. He successfully defended his masters thesis entitled Bioethics and Lifestyle Management: The Theory and Praxis of Personal Responsibility in 2013, following the defense of his doctoral dissertation entitled "Searching for the Good Life: Rhetoric, Medicine, and the Shaping of Lifestyle" in 2012. He then became a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Institute for Clinical Research Education (RAND/University of Pittsburgh Scholars Program), Department of Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine. And then Assistant Professor of Communication & Rhetorical Studies at Duquesne University until June 2019 when he relocated back to Denver, Colorado. His is currently Category II Lecturer in Rhetoric and Debate at Metropolitan State University of Denver. His interests include the rhetoric of science, rhetoric surrounding policy controversies in biomedicine, the philosophical underpinnings of scientific thought and practice, and rhetoric of pain and illness.