The Center for Ethics is pleased to host the following guest speakers for this year’s regional symposium:

Rebecca Aslakson, MD, PhD

Boarded in critical care, palliative medicine, and anesthesiology, Dr. Aslakson clinically attends in the adult surgical intensive care units, inpatient palliative care unit, and operating rooms at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.  Her research and clinical goal is to improve delivery of palliative care to patients and families, particularly in intensive care unit and perioperative settings.  Currently or previously supported by grants and contracts from organizations such as the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the National Palliative Care Research Center, Dr. Aslakson’s research work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Critical Care, The Journal of Palliative Medicine, The Journal of General Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology Clinics, The Patient, and Critical Care Clinics.  Dr. Aslakson is an active member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), and the International Anesthesia Research Society. She is the founder and 2013-2014 chair of the AAHPM special interest group concerning the ICU, a founder and member through 2015 of the ASA sub-committee on Palliative Medicine, the AAHPM-representative member to the AMA-supported expert panel (AMA-PCPI) developing consensus quality guidelines for anesthesia and critical care, and a member of the SCCM-funded international expert committee re-writing guidelines for family-centered care in the ICU.  Dr. Aslakson lives in Parkville, MD with her husband and two young sons.

Carol Taylor, PhD, MSN

Carol Taylor is a founding member and previous director of the Center for Clinical Bioethics, a senior research scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, and professor in the Department of Medicine and in the School of Nursing & Health Studies at Georgetown University. Experienced in caring for chronically and critically ill patients and their families, Carol now works closely with health care professionals who are exploring the ethical dimensions of their practice. She lectures and writes on various issues in healthcare ethics and serves as an ethics consultant to systems and professional organizations. Her research interests include professional and organizational ethics and health care decision making. Dr. Taylor is experienced in caring for patients who are chronically and critically ill and their families, she chose doctoral work in philosophy with a concentration in bioethics because of a passion to “make health care work” for those who need it. At Georgetown Dr. Taylor directs an innovative interdisciplinary ethics curriculum grounded in a rich notion of moral agency for medical students and advanced practice nurses. She teaches in the undergraduate nursing curriculum, directs a practicum in clinical ethics for graduate students in the philosophy program, serves on the ethics committee, directs the ethics consultation service, conducts ethics rounds and ethics case presentations, and develops professional seminars in clinical ethics for health care professionals and the public. Her research interests include clinical and professional ethics, and organizational integrity. Dr. Taylor has a PhD in Philosophy with a concentration in bioethics from Georgetown University and a Master's Degree in Medical-Surgical Nursing from Catholic University; She now works closely with health care professionals and leaders who are exploring the ethical dimensions of their practice. She lectures internationally and writes on various issues in healthcare ethics and serves as an ethics consultant to systems and professional organizations. She is the author of Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Nursing Care, which is now in its 7th edition and co-editor of Health and Human Flourishing: Religion, Medicine and Moral Anthropology and the 4th edition of Case Studies in Nursing Ethics.

Marisa C. Brown, MSN, RN

Marisa C. Brown is a research instructor in the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development - University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (GUCCHD-UCDD) in Washington, D.C.  She has been associated with Georgetown University for the past 30 years serving in many capacities.  She is an advanced nurse practitioner specializing in the health care of individuals with developmental disabilities, and has over 30 years of experience in this specialty. She is the Director of the DC Developmental Disabilities Health Initiative, a partnership between the GUCCHD-UCEDD and the DC Developmental Disabilities Administration. The goal of this project is to improve health care access and quality for adults with intellectual disabilities receiving community-based services and supports. One component of this project is the provision of end-of-life consultation. Ms. Brown’s interest in community collaborative approaches to human services delivery are a common thread among the projects with which she has been associated including health services for people with intellectual disabilities, genetics education, community services and supports for people with disabilities, early intervention services for infants and toddlers, cultural and linguistic competence, and home visiting services to families that are homeless and other families impacted by poverty, disability and substance abuse.

Laura Guidry-Grimes, MA, PhD(C)

Ms. Guidry-Grimes, M.A., is a philosophy Ph.D. candidate at Georgetown University. Her published work concentrates on vulnerability in bioethical contexts, problems of exclusion and marginalization, and relational approaches to agency. She has worked as a Graduate Fellow for the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, and she continues to serve on Georgetown's Institutional Review Board. She has interned for the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, Pan American Health Organization, and Washington Hospital Center. She currently teaches ethics courses at Georgetown while finishing her dissertation.

Erin Leveton, JD

Ms. Leveton is a legislative and policy analyst with the State Office of Disability Administration Department on Disability Services in Washington, DC. In addition, she serves as adjunct professor for the Georgetown University Law Center.