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Institute for Bioethics logo
Michael J Deem

Michael J. Deem, PhD

Director of Ethics Education

Professional Statement

Michael Deem joined the faculty of University of Pittsburgh in Fall 2021, having held previous faculty appointments at Duquesne University and Indiana State University. He completed a PhD in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and the Pediatric Ethics and Genomics Fellowship at Children’s Mercy Hospital (Kansas City).

Dr. Deem’s primary areas of research and scholarship are pediatric ethics, ethical issues in genetics/genomic medicine, philosophy of biology and medicine, and public health ethics. Having taught ethics to genetic counseling, nursing, and medical students for over a decade, he also pursues research on interprofessional ethics education. His work has been published broadly in clinical and academic journals, including JAMA Pediatrics, Clinical Chemistry, the International Journal of Public Health, Nursing Outlook, Analysis, and Philosophy of Science.

Dr. Deem teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in healthcare ethics across Pitt, including within the MS Genetic Counseling Program (School of Public Health), MPH in Public Health Genetics program, Rehabilitation Science program (School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences), and directs Pitt’s Consortium Ethics Program.

As the Director of Ethics Education within the Institute for Bioethics, Dr. Deem oversees the Institute’s Seminar Series, organizes academic reading and study groups, provides consultative and marketing support to program directors and faculty engaged in ethics education at Pitt, and assists in preparation and submission of proposals for internal and external funding of pedagogical research and interventions in bioethics. At Pitt, he has designed and co-designed several new courses in healthcare and public health ethics, as well as the Graduate Certificate in Bioethics. Dr. Deem also serves as the Associate Director of the Bioethics Certificate within the School of Public Health.

Dr. Deem is an ordained Deacon in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and serves on the pastoral care team at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital.

Appointments

  • Associate Professor Department of Human Genetics School of Public Health
  • Program Director, Multidisciplinary Master of Public Health School of Public Health
  • Director of Ethics Education Institute for Bioethics
  • Pastoral Care Team Member Spiritual Care Department Magee-Womens Hospital

Education and Training

  • Pediatric Ethics and Genomics Fellowship, Children’s Mercy, 2016
  • PhD, University of Notre Dame, 2015
  • MA, Texas A&M University, 2009
  • MA, Saint Louis University, 2005
  • BA, Franciscan University of Steubenville, 2003

Professional Interests in Bioethics

Representative Publications

  1. Grubs RE, Farrow EG, Deem MJ (eds.) (2025). The Oxford Handbook of Genetic Counseling. Oxford University Press.

  2. Deem MJ (2025). Nondirectiveness in genetic counseling: Normative and Conceptual Dimensions. In Grubs RE, Farrow EG, Deem MJ (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Genetic Counseling, (pp. 477-493). Oxford University Press.

  3. Deem MJ, Lingler JH (eds.) (2024). Nursing Ethics: Normative Foundations, Advanced Concepts, and Emerging Issues. Oxford University Press.

  4. Deem MJ, Erlen JA (2024). Conceptions of vulnerability within the context of clinical research. In Deem MJ, Erlen JA (eds.), Nursing Ethics: Normative Foundations, Advanced Concepts, and Emerging Issues, (pp. 158-178). Oxford University Press.

  5. Saunders CJ, Brunelli L, Deem MJ, Farrow EG, Hegde M, Stark Z. More than a decade of rapid genomic sequencing: Where are we now? Clinical Chemistry 70(4): 577-583.

  6. Ramsey G, Deem MJ (2022). Empathy and the evolutionary emergence of guilt. Philosophy of Science 89(3): 434-453.

Recent Funding

  • Notre Dame Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, Signature Course Fellowship and Grant, 2024-2026
  • NIH (1R25HG011228-01A1) - Genomic Competencies for Nurses from Theory to Application: An Online Long Course, Lead Faculty 2021-2027

Awards and Honors

  • Signature Course Fellow, Notre Dame Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, 2024-2026
  • Faculty Fellow, Beatrice Institute, 2022
  • Nominee, Faculty Excellence Award for Scholarship, Duquesne University School of Nursing, 2018-2019

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