Rebecca Critser, JD, LLM, M Bioethics

Rebecca Critser is a lawyer and ethicist whose scholarship focuses on the advancement of human-relevant methods through advocacy for non-animal models. Rebecca simultaneously obtained her JD from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and her Masters in Philosophy (Bioethics) from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She went on to obtain her LLM in Animal Law from Lewis & Clark Law School. Currently, she is a post-doctoral fellow in the Toxicology Policy Program led by Dr. Paul Locke at Johns Hopkins University and she is an adjunct professor in animal law at Lewis & Clark and McKinney law schools.

Hope Ferdowsian, MD, MPH, FACP, FACPM

Dr. Hope Ferdowsian is a double board-certified internal medicine, preventive medicine, and public health physician with ethics expertise. Her global work focuses on the intersection of human, animal, and planetary rights, health, and wellbeing, and her published works center on the importance of universal principles in research and other areas of society. Her leadership and research, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, contributed to changes in US policy governing the use of chimpanzees in research. She served as faculty at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Georgetown University School of Medicine, and she is now a professor of medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.

Agustin Fuentes, PhD

Dr. Agustín Fuentes is a professor of anthropology at Princeton University researching human evolution, multi-species anthropology, sex/gender, and structures of race and racism. His books include Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths About Human Nature, The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional, and Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being.

Kathy Hessler, JD, LLM

Dean Kathy Hessler is the inaugural Assistant Dean for Animal Legal Education at George Washington University (GWU) Law School, and Director of the Animal Legal Education Initiative. Dean Hessler has been a clinical law professor for 30 years and has been teaching animal law for 22 years. She is the first law professor hired to teach animal law full-time. She received her JD from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary and her LLM from Georgetown University Law Center. Dean Hessler helped develop the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School (L&C). For fourteen years she taught there and directed the Animal Law Clinic, which was named one of the top fifteen most innovative clinics in 2015. Prior to her work at GWU and L&C, Dean Hessler also taught at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Cornell Law School, University of Dayton School of Law, Capital University Law School, and Georgetown University Law Center.

Syd Johnson, PhD, HEC-C

Dr. L. Syd M Johnson is a philosopher/bioethicist/neuroethicist at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University, and an ethics consultant at Upstate’s three hospitals. She’s an associate editor for Neuroethics, and a member of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Neuroethics Working Group, and is the chair of Upstate’s Hospital Ethics Committee. Dr. Johnson’s books include The Ethics of Uncertainty: Entangled Ethical and Epistemic Risks in Disorders of Consciousness; The Routledge Handbook of Neuroethics; Chimpanzee Rights: The Philosophers’ Brief; Philosophical, Medical, and Legal Controversies About Brain Death; Neuroethics and Nonhuman Animals; and The Three Pillars of Ethical Research with Nonhuman Primates. Her research focuses on ethical issues related to research ethics, animal ethics, xenotransplantation, and brain injuries, including brain death and disorders of consciousness. Her interest in all things with brains extends to every kind of critter, zombies, and robots.

Jessica Pierce, PhD

Dr. Jessica Pierce is an American bioethicist known for her work in the fields of environmental bioethics, animal ethics, and the philosophy of human-animal relationships. Her work spans from broad considerations of human responsibilities for nature to detailed explorations of human-animal relationships. She has published thirteen books, including Run, Spot, Run: The Ethics of Keeping Pets, A Dog’s World: Imagining the Lives of Dogs in a World without Humans, and, most recently, Dogpedia: A Brief Compendium of Canine Curiosities. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, TIME and Scientific American. She is a faculty affiliate at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School. She lives in the Colorado Rockies.

Martha Smith-Blackmore, DVM

Dr. Martha Smith-Blackmore is a veterinarian and president of Forensic Veterinary Investigations, LLC, specializing in veterinary forensics, animal cruelty, and welfare policy. She is a Fellow at Tufts University’s Center for Animals and Public Policy and has a background in clinical practice, biomedical research, and forensic science. Dr. Smith-Blackmore is dedicated to ethical research and harm reduction, with prior experience in biomedical research at Deaconess Hospital and the New England Regional Primate Research Center. She serves on multiple national and international committees and is a leader in veterinary forensic science, including at the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the American Veterinary Medical Association

Ingrid Taylor, DVM

Dr. Ingrid L. Taylor is a veterinarian and writer whose work appears in HuffPost, Sentient Media, The Southwest Review, and many other media outlets. Her essay about growing up on a pig farm was featured in the anthology The Humane Hoax. She is a former staff writer for Sentient Media and has written for Spruce Pets, Stray Dog Institute, Feminist Food Journal, and others. As a veterinarian, Dr. Taylor has worked in emergency and general clinical practice and public health. She has advised on dozens of animal cruelty cases and provided court testimony for the nation’s first crayfish cruelty case. She currently directs a publishing department that produces veterinary medical guidelines.

Robert Svatek, MD, MSCI

Dr. Rob Svatek is a professor and Chair of the Department of Urology at the University of Texas (UT) Health Science Center at San Antonio. He completed his urology residency training at the University of Texas Southwestern, urologic oncology training at the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Master of Science in Clinical Research Investigation at the UT Health Science Center Houston. Dr. Svatek’s clinical practice is devoted to the care of patients suffering from urinary bladder cancer. He is an active clinical researcher and runs a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded cancer immunology laboratory. His rich experience in laboratory and clinical investigation led him to the desire to improve existing research standards with the aim to deliver greater benefit within an equitable and ethical framework. Toward this goal, he recently initiated formalized training in bioethics at Loyola University.

Maggie Topalian, MS (NCRE Clerk)

Maggie Topalian is the Clerk for the National Commission on Research Ethics. She recently graduated with an MS in Conservation Medicine from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, where she focused her research on post-traumatic stress disorder in farmed animals and the One Health harms caused by animal agriculture. A lifelong animal lover, she has worked and interned at several accredited animal sanctuaries and wildlife rehabilitation centers. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Zoology with a minor in Neuroscience from Weber State University in 2021. In addition to her NCRE role, she is a Behavior Evaluator at the Salt Lake County Animal Shelter. 

Brad Bolman, PhD

Dr. Brad Bolman is a historian of science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. His research explores the production and circulation of scientific knowledge about nonhuman organisms. His first book, Lab Dog, from the University of Chicago Press, shows how beagle dogs became common research subjects in multiple fields during the twentieth century.

Nadine Dolby, PhD, MEd

Dr. Nadine Dolby is a professor of education at Purdue University. She is the author or editor of seven books and over 70 journal articles and book chapters. She has published widely in the fields of veterinary education; animals, society, and education; and laboratory animal research. In addition to her research and teaching, Dr. Dolby is founder and president of a local nonprofit, Animal Advocates of Greater Lafayette, whose mission is to keep animals out of area shelters, keep families together, and celebrate and support the human-animal bond. 

Monica Engebretson

Monica Engebretson has been dedicated to the nonprofit sector since 1999, addressing a variety of issues such as human-wildlife conflicts, farmed animals, captive birds, and animals in research. She has been instrumental in drafting legislation and implementing laws related to these topics. A graduate of Humboldt State University, Monica majored in wildlife studies with a minor in environmental ethics. She is an associate member of the American Bar Association and actively participates in the animal law committee. Currently, she leads Public Affairs for Cruelty Free International’s North American campaigns. Monica resides in California with her family and numerous rescued animals including a rabbit released from a laboratory.

John Gluck, PhD

Dr. John Gluck is a professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico and Faculty Affiliate at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.  He earned his PhD in psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed a clinical fellowship at the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and a fellowship in bioethics at Georgetown University and the National Institutes of Health. He was the founding director of the Research Ethics Service Project, co-director of the Health Sciences Center Institute for Ethics, and director of the Clinical Psychology Training Program at the University of New Mexico.  He served as a member and Chair of the New Mexico Board of Psychologist Examiners for 12 years and is a fellow of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards. His most recent work is concerned with understanding what characteristics an entity must possess in order to gain ethical protection from the norms of a society, and the nature of the barriers to moving away from animal modeling in science, and includes the books Applied Ethics in Animal Research published by Purdue University, and The Human Use of Animals: Case Studies in Ethical Choice published by Oxford University Press  and co-authored with Tom Beauchamp, F. Barbara Orlans, Rebecca Dresser, and David Morton, and Voracious Science and Vulnerable Animals published by the University of Chicago Press.

Kathrin Hermann, DVM, PhD

Dr. Kathrin Herrmann is a veterinary expert in animal welfare science, ethics, and law. She directs the Beyond Classical Refinement Program at the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) at Johns Hopkins University, focusing on improving the reproducibility and translatability of scientific research by critically evaluating current animal use practices. Kathrin initiated and co-edited the book Animal Experimentation: Working Towards a Paradigm Change and is actively involved in international initiatives to advance humane, human-relevant science education. Since 2020, she has also served as the Animal Protection Commissioner of Berlin, advising the government on animal welfare issues.

Jane Johnson, PhD

Dr. Jane Johnson is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at Macquarie University where she employs the tools of field philosophy to address ethical and epistemological questions in science and medicine. Current funded projects include: i) improving research with animals by developing an empirically informed relational approach; ii) addressing challenges experienced by carers for animals; and iii) understanding the role of medical device representatives in Australian hospitals and the ethical, legal, and regulatory challenges associated with their growing presence. Her work is driven by a commitment to the vulnerable and to research that enhances lives.

Barbara J. King, PhD

Barbara J. King is an emerita professor of anthropology at William & Mary and a freelance science writer and public speaker. The author of seven books, including Animals’ Best Friends: Putting Compassion to Work for Animals in Captivity and the Wild, she focuses on animal emotion and cognition and the ethics of our relationships with animals. Her book How Animals Grieve has been translated into seven languages; her TED talk on animal love and grief has now received over 3 1/2 million views; and she frequently discusses research ethics in articles and podcasts and on social media.

Sue Leary, MS

Sue Leary has a BS in biology and MS in nonprofit management. Her career has focused on coordination of programs and services, education and advocacy, administration and planning, and membership development in nonprofit organizations. Since 1995, she has served as president of American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) and the Alternatives Research & Development Foundation (ARDF). Sue is executive editor of the AV Magazine and Chair of the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC), which oversees the Leaping Bunny Program. She has served on a number of boards, including, since 2008, the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. Sue also served from 2020 to 2024 as an appointed member of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Alternative Toxicological Methods.

Joann Lindenmayer, DVM, MPH

Dr. Joann Lindenmayer is an adjunct associate professor of public health at Tufts University School of Medicine and Honorary Diplomate of the American Veterinary One Health Society. A graduate of Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health, her research and practice has focused on One Health. She serves as the Northeast Director of the Evidence-Based Veterinary Medical Association, Senior Editor of CABI One Health Resources, and Vice Chair of the Uxbridge Massachusetts Board of Health. She is a fellow in the PanWorks Think Tank, where she leads the One Health Ethics channel.

Lori Marino, PhD

Dr. Lori Marino is a neuroscientist and expert in animal behavior, intelligence, and self-awareness who was on the faculty of Emory University for two decades. She is currently an adjunct professor in animal studies at New York University, She is the founder and president of the Whale Sanctuary Project and Executive Director of The Kimmela Center for Scholarship-based Animal Advocacy. Her scientific work focuses on the evolution of the brain and intelligence in dolphins and whales (as well as primates and farmed animals), and on the effects of captivity on wildlife. She has published over 140 peer-reviewed scientific papers, book chapters, and magazine articles. She also works at the intersection of science and animal law. She is co-director of the Science and Animal Law Project at George Washington University and is also an adjunct faculty member at the Vermont Graduate and Law School where she co-teaches The Science of Animal Law and Policy course.

Lisa Moses, VMD

Lisa Moses is a veterinarian and bioethicist. Dr. Moses is a core faculty member at Harvard Medical School’s Center for Bioethics and a lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. She completed a fellowship in bioethics at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics and received her veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds academic appointments at the Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Bioethics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and The Cummings Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Moses teaches, writes, and studies various aspects of research ethics and veterinary medical ethics.

Brendan Parent, JD

Brendan Parent is Director of Transplant Ethics and Policy Research, and an associate professor in the Division of Medical Ethics with a joint appointment in surgery at New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine. He is a principal investigator on nonprofit and government funded grants studying ethics and regulation of transplant research and the ethical imperative to replace nonhuman animals in research. He provides ethics consultation for clinical research, palliative care, and transplant programs across the globe. His current work also focuses on ethical challenges surrounding determination of death by neurological criteria, research on the deceased, and artificial intelligence in clinical research. He has published academic articles in peer reviewed journals spanning law, medicine, science, sports, and ethics, and his work has been featured in the Washington Post, The New York Times, Wired, Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, and on NPR.

Janet Patterson-Kane, DVM, PhD

Janet Patterson-Kane trained as a veterinarian in her home country of New Zealand and worked in clinical practice before completing a PhD in equine clinical science. She then trained in the US to become a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists before embarking on an academic career in various locations including the UK, Australia, and the US. Janet’s research career has focused on health and welfare issues for companion animals, horses, and wildlife. She is the author or co-author of 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts and the textbook Clinical Equine Oncology. In 2018, she was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (United Kingdom) for meritorious contributions to knowledge. From 2019 to 2022 Janet served as the Chief Scientific Officer for the Morris Animal Foundation, including running the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study. In 2022, she completed a postgraduate certificate in international animal welfare, ethics, and law at the University of Edinburgh. She currently works in healthcare research for the Waltham Petcare Science Institute.

Joan Schaffner, JD, MS

Joan Schaffner is the faculty co-director of the George Washington (GW) Animal Legal Education Initiative and advisor to the GW Animal Welfare Project and the GW Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. Ze has presented on worldwide animal law panels and conferences. Professor Schaffner’s most recent scholarship has focused on the development of an international convention for animal protection with the recent article published in the Global Journal of Animal Law, and co-authored with Raj Reddy, entitled “The Convention on Animal Protection: The Missing Link in a One Health Global Strategy for Pandemic Prevention.” Ze is the author of the book Introduction to Animals and the Law and author of several book chapters including “Valuing Nature in Environmental Law: Lessons for Animal Law and the Valuation of Animals” in What Can Animal Law Learn from Environmental Law?, “Animal Cruelty and the Law: Permitted Conduct” in Animal Cruelty: A Multidisciplinary Approach, and “Value,Wild Animals, and Law” in Animal Welfare and International Environmental Law: From Conservation to Compassion. Ze is Publications Officer of the American Bar Association (ABA), International Law Section (ILS), Policy Vice-Chair and Past Co-Chair of the ABA ILS International Animal Law Committee, Founding Chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Animal Law, Fellow of Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, and on the Board of the International Coalition for Animal Protection.

Erin Sharoni, MBE

Erin Sharoni is an executive and current advisor to companies in the artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and animal health sectors, and a bioethics researcher for the National Institutes of Health Bridge to Artificial Intelligence program. She received a Master of Bioethics from Harvard Medical School, a Master’s in Biology from Harvard Extension School, and a Bachelor’s in Studio Art from Wesleyan University. She is a teaching fellow at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics, an associate fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, and an affiliate of The Galileo Project at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Her research focuses on nonhuman animal-free technologies, artificial intelligence, and the ethical implications of the search for life in the universe.

Lauri Torgerson-White, MS

Lauri Torgerson-White is an independent researcher dedicated to understanding animal cognition and its implications for the ethics of human-animal relationships. Through her efforts, Lauri strives to foster meaningful change for animals around the globe. Previously, she was the inaugural Senior Director of Research and Sanctuary Animal Welfare at Farm Sanctuary. There, she pioneered a research program featured in the New York Times that delved into the inner lives of farmed animals, led animal care teams, and played a key role in launching the organization’s food system advocacy program. Before her time at Farm Sanctuary, she was the first Director of Research and Lead Animal Welfare Specialist at Mercy For Animals, where she established an interdisciplinary research team focused on critical issues such as animal welfare and farm transition, and successfully managed the launch of the Transfarmation Project. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications on animal welfare, personality, and cognition, and has taught university-level courses in biology and nutrition.