Jason Robert is Dean's Distinguished (Associate) Professor in the Life Sciences.
A bioethicist and philosopher of biology, Professor Robert's research and teaching is animated by the question of what is 'good' science - that is, science that is both efficacious and ethical. His approach is to work against reductionist tendencies in biological/biomedical science, as well as in ethics, to surface and explore the profound complexity of our biological and moral systems. He has published widely on topics such as as stem cell biology, translational research, genetics, evolutionary and developmental biology, and genetics, with a particular focus more recently on the neurosciences.
Bioethics, philosophy of biology, philosophy of medicine, philosophy of science, science policy, public health policy, health public policy
Book
Robert JS. 2004. Embryology, Epigenesis, & Evolution: Taking Development Seriously. New York: Cambridge University Press [link].
Edited books
Guston DH, Finn E, Robert JS. (Eds.). 2017. Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Hays SA, Robert JS, Miller CA, Bennett I. (Eds.). 2012. Nanotechnology, the Brain, and the Future. Dordrecht: Springer [link].
Articles (selected)
Piemonte N, Truten J, Robert JS. Forthcoming. The Reflective Scribe: Encouraging Critical Self-Reflection and Professional Development in Pre-Health Education. Forthcoming in The Journal of Medical Humanities.
Robert, JS. 2017. The Epigenesis of Obesity. Human Development 60: 95-106.
Robert JS. 2017. Can Communication Scholarship Help to Bridge the Gap in Translational Research? Review of Communication 17.3: 214-223.
Caselli RJ, Marchant GE, Hunt KS, Henslin BR, Kosiorek HE, Langbaum J, Robert JS, Dueck AC. 2015. Predictive Testing for Alzheimer's Disease: Suicidal Ideation in Healthy Participants. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders 29.3: 252-254.
Caselli RJ, Langbaum J, Marchant GE, Lindor RA, Hunt KS, Henslin BR, Dueck AC, and Robert JS. 2014. Public Perceptions of Presymptomatic Testing for Alzheimer’s Disease. Mayo Clinic Proceedings 89: 1389-1396.
Robert JS. 2013. Stem Cell Research Oversight: Personal Reflections and Public Reasoning. The American Journal of Bioethics 13.1: 66-68.
Haimes E, Skene L, Ballantyne AJ, Caulfield T, Goldstein LS, Hyun I, Kimmelman J, Robert JS, Roxland BE, Scott, CT, Solbakk JH, Sugarman J, Taylor PL, Testa G. 2013. Position Statement on the Provision and Procurement of Human Eggs for Stem Cell Research. Cell Stem Cell 12: 285-291.
Kato K, Kimmelman J, Robert J, Sipp D, Sugarman J. 2012. Ethical and Policy Issues in the Clinical Translation of Stem Cells: Report of a Focus Session at the ISSCR 10th Annual Meeting. Cell Stem Cell 11: 765-767.
Hurlbut JB, Robert JS. 2012a. Stem Cells, Science, and Public Reasoning. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 31.3: 707-714.
Hurlbut JB, Robert JS. 2012b. Good Governance Connects Science and Society. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 31.3 722-726.
Carvalho TB, Rady MY, Verheijde JL, Robert JS. 2011. Continuous Deep Sedation in End-of-Life Care: Disentangling Palliation from Physician-Assisted Death. The American Journal of Bioethics 11.6: 60-62.
Marchant GE, Robert JS. 2010. Genetic Testing for Autism Predisposition: Ethical, Legal and Social Challenges. The Houston Journal of Health Law and Policy 9: 203-235.
Robert JS. 2009. Toward a Better Bioethics. Science and Engineering Ethics 15: 283-291.
Miller FA, Robert JS, Hayeems RZ. 2009. Questioning the Consensus: Managing Carrier Status Results Generated by Newborn Screening. American Journal of Public Health 99: 209-215.
Robert JS. 2008. The Comparative Biology of Human Nature. Philosophical Psychology 21: 425-436.
Robert JS. 2008. Taking Old Ideas Seriously: Evolution, Development, and Human Behavior. New Ideas in Psychology 26: 387-404.
Maienschein J, Sunderland M, Ankeny RA, Robert JS. 2008. The Ethos and Ethics of Translational Research [Target article with commentaries and response]. The American Journal of Bioethics 8.3: 43-51.
Miller FA, Giacomini M, Robert JS, Christensen R. 2008. Duty to Disclose What? Querying the Putative Obligation to Return Research Results to Participants. Journal of Medical Ethics 34: 210-213.
Miller FA, Giacomini M, Ahern C, Robert JS, de Laat S. 2007. When Research Seems Like Clinical Care: A Qualitative Study of the Communication of Individual Cancer Genetic Research Results. BMC Medical Ethics 9.4 [link].
Giacomini M, Baylis F, Robert JS. 2007. Banking on It: Public Policy and the Ethics of Stem Cell Research and Development. Social Science & Medicine 65: 1490-1500.
Robert JS. 2007. Gene Maps, Brain Scans, and Psychiatric Nosology. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 16: 209-218.
Baylis F, Robert JS. 2006. Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: An Argument for National Research Review. Accountability in Research 13: 207-224.
Robert JS, Kirk DD. 2006. Ethics, Biotechnology, and Global Health: The Development of Vaccines in Transgenic Plants. The American Journal of Bioethics 6.4: W29-W41.
Robert JS, Maienschein J, Laubichler M. 2006. Systems Bioethics and Stem Cell Biology. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 3: 19-31.
Robert JS. 2006. The Science and Ethics of Making Part-human Animals in Stem Cell Biology. FASEB Journal 20: 838-845.
Kirk DD, Robert JS. 2005. Assessing Commercial Feasibility: A Practical and Ethical Prerequisite for Human Clinical Testing. Accountability in Research 12: 281-297.
Baylis F, Robert JS. 2004. The Inevitability of Genetic Enhancement Technologies. Bioethics 18: 1-26.
Robert JS. 2004. Model Systems in Stem Cell Biology. BioEssays 26: 1005-1012.
Robert JS, Smith A. 2004. Toxic Ethics: Environmental Genomics and the Health of Populations. Bioethics 18.6: 493-514.
Robert JS, Baylis F. 2003. Crossing Species Boundaries [target article with commentaries and response]. The American Journal of Bioethics 3.3: 1-13.
Robert JS. 2003. Developmental Systems and Animal Behaviour. Biology & Philosophy 18: 477-489.
Book chapters (selected)
Preuss TM, Robert JS. 2014. Animal Models of the Human Brain: Repairing the Paradigm. In The Cognitive Neurosciences V, eds. MS Gazzaniga and GR Mangun. (Cambridge: MIT Press), pp. 59-66.
Robert JS, Miller CA, Milleson V. 2012. Introduction: Ethics and Anticipatory Governance of Nano-Neurotechnological Convergence. In Nanotechnology, The Brain, and The Future, eds. SA Hays, JS Robert, CA Miller, and I Bennett I (Springer), pp. 1-18 [link].
Maienschein J, Robert JS. 2009. What Is An Embryo and How Do We Know? In The Healthy Embryo, eds. JA Nisker, F Baylis, I Karpin, C McLeod, and R Mykitiuk (Cambridge University Press), pp. 1-15 [link].
Robert JS. 2008. Evo-devo. In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Biology, ed. M. Ruse (Oxford University Press), pp. 291-309 [link].
Robert JS. 2008. Nanoscience, Nanoscientists, and Controversy. In Nanotechnology and Society: Current and Emerging Ethical Issues, eds. F. Allhoff and P. Lin (Springer), pp. 225-239 [link].
Robert JS. 2008. Behavioural Genetics. In The Cambridge Textbook of Bioethics, ed. P.A. Singer (Cambridge University Press), pp. 174-182 [link].
Smith A, Robert JS. 2008. Conceptual and Normative Dimensions of Toxicogenomics. In Genomics and Environmental Regulation: Science, Ethics, and Law, eds. RR Sharp, GE Marchant, JA Grodsky (Johns Hopkins University Press), pp. 219-241 [link].
Robert JS. 2007. Molecular and Systems Biology and Bioethics. In The Cambridge Companion to Philosophy of Biology, eds. M. Ruse and D.L. Hull (Cambridge University Press), pp. 361-371 [link].
Baylis F, Robert JS. 2006. Radical Rupture: Exploring Biological Sequelae of Volitional Inheritable Genetic Modification. In The Ethics of Inheritable Genetic Modification: A Dividing Line? eds. R Ankeny, J Rasko, and G. O’Sullivan (Cambridge University Press), pp. 131-148 [link].
Robert JS. 2003. Developmental Systems Theory. In Key Concepts and Approaches in Evolutionary Developmental Biology, eds. BK Hall and WM Olson (Harvard University Press), pp. 94-97 [link].
Summer 2022 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
Spring 2022 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
HON 494 | Special Topics |
LAW 781 | Independent Study |
LAW 791 | Seminar |
Fall 2021 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
HPS 620 | Research Prospectus Writing |
BIO 620 | Research Prospectus Writing |
Spring 2021 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
HON 494 | Special Topics |
BIO 598 | Special Topics |
LAW 781 | Independent Study |
LAW 791 | Seminar |
Fall 2020 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
HPS 620 | Research Prospectus Writing |
BIO 620 | Research Prospectus Writing |
Spring 2020 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
HON 494 | Special Topics |
BIO 615 | Biology and Society Lab |
HPS 615 | Biology and Society Lab |
LAW 781 | Independent Study |
LAW 791 | Seminar |
Fall 2019 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
BIO 516 | Foundations of Bioethics |
HPS 615 | Biology and Society Lab |
BIO 615 | Biology and Society Lab |
HPS 620 | Research Prospectus Writing |
BIO 620 | Research Prospectus Writing |
Spring 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
HON 494 | Special Topics |
BIO 598 | Special Topics |
LAW 781 | Independent Study |
LAW 791 | Seminar |
Fall 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
BIO 516 | Foundations of Bioethics |
BIO 598 | Special Topics |
LAW 791 | Seminar |
Spring 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
Fall 2017 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
LAW 791 | Seminar |
Arizona State University
Appointed: Senior Ethics Advisor to the University Provost, 2015
Appointed: Lincoln Chair in Ethics, 2013
Appointed: Franca Oreffice Dean’s Distinguished Professor in the Life Sciences, College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2009
Appointed: Lincoln Associate Professor of Ethics in Biotechnology and Medicine, 2009
Designated: Tenure and Promotion Exemplar, Office of the Provost, 2008
Promoted: Associate Professor, 2008
Appointed: Member of the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes, 2005
Nominated: Centennial Professorship, Associated Students of Arizona State University, 2005, 2013
Nominated: Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2005,2013
Dalhousie University
Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2000-2001
Honourary Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2000-2001
McMaster University
Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship, 1997-2000
Canada-United States Fulbright Scholarship, 1998, held at The University of Chicago in 1999
Ontario Graduate Scholarship, 1996-1997 (declined 1997-1998)
Ashbaugh Fellowship and McMaster Graduate Scholarship, 1994-1995
Queen’s University
Medal in Philosophy, 1994
Dean’s Honour List, Faculty of Arts & Science, 1994, 1993
Arts & Science Undergraduate Society Scholarship in the Humanities, 1993-1994
Senator Frank Carrell Upper-year Scholarship, 1993, 1992
Essay Prizes
Dialogue Student Essay Prize, Canadian Philosophical Association, 2000
Peter Miller Student Essay Prize, Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics, 2000
Student Abstract Prize, Canadian Bioethics Society, 1999
Student Essay Prize, McMaster Institute of Environment and Health, Workshop on “The Ethics of Human Health and Ecosystem Health”, 1998
Peter Miller Student Essay Prize, Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics, 1998
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW SUPERVISION
Valerye Milleson, PhD (2014-2015) – Teaching Ethics Postdoctoral Fellow
Erica O’Neil, PhD (2016- ) – Community Engagement Postdoctoral Fellow
Nicki Piemonte, PhD (2015-2016) – Narrative Professionalism Postdoctoral Fellow
Director of Biology PhD dissertation
Jennifer Brian, Corporate Bioethics (2006-2012) – Barrett Honors Faculty Fellow, ASU
Stephanie Buchholtz, Ethics in Genetic Testing (2010-)
Katherine Hunt, Ethics in Genomic Counseling (2009-2013) – Genetic counsellor, Mayo AZ
Nate Johnson, Science and Human Nature (2008-2013) – Assistant Professor, Midwestern U
Director of Biology MSc thesis
Katherine Brind’Amour, Prenatal Health Care in Maricopa County (2007-2009)
Tito Carvalho, Interrogating ELSI (2009-2012)
Mallory Feng, Comparative Neuroscience (2007-2008)
Brenda Flores, Diabetes, Public Health, and Healthy Public Policy for Latinos (2006-2008)
Hayley Ivins, Women in Health Research (2007-2008)
Katherine Liu, Evolutionary Developmental Medicine (2008-2010)
Richard (Tobie) Milford, Narrative Medicine (2008-2009)
Valerye Milleson, Neuroethics and Human Dignity (2009-2014)
Catherine Min, Neuroethics and Scientist-Ethicist Collaborations (2010-2012)
Anjali Moorthy, Surrogate Pregnancy: Ethics and Culture (2010-2011)
Margaret Paul, Children in Hospice (2007-2008)
Stephen Ruffenach, Global Bioethics (2010-2011)
Jeremy Stoloff, Negotiating Clinical Research: Advice for Small Businesses (2006-2008)
Amanda Waddell, Clinical Research Ethics in Transition (2010-2012)
Grant Whitson, Healthy School Lunches: Policy Analysis (2013-)
Director of MA AEP | Biomedical and Health Ethics Applied Project (in progress)
Francisco Canales, Maggie Emmons, William Haeberle, Travis Kelner, Steven Mitchell, Andrew Prindle, Hillary Roberts, Eric Rollman, Cathleen Sperling, Nicholas Zautra
Director of MA AEP | Biomedical and Health Ethics Applied Project (completed)
Hayley Anderson, Mary Drago, Beatrice Gordon, Shaylona Kirk, Heidi Pinyerd, Ana Ross, Krystal Tsosie
Member of MA AEP | Biomedical and Health Ethics Applied Project (in progress)
Ibrahim AlSubaihi, Sujata Behara, Alex Feder, Quihong Li, Karla Sakkijha, Cesar Vargas
Member of PhD dissertation committee
Mary Drago, Health Equity, Ethics and Policy (2012-2016)
Rod Knight, Population Health Intervention Research (University of British Columbia, Interdisciplinary Studies; 2011-)
Valerye Milleson, Human Dignity (Philosophy; 2010-2012)
Mary Sunderland, Regenerative Biology (2004-2008)
Karen Wellner, Haeckler Diagrams (2011-)
Member of MSc thesis committee
Maryann Barnes, Evolution and Politics (Biology; 2013-)
Jennifer Minneci, Intelligent Design (Biology; 2006-2008)
Stephanie Naufel, Neural Prosthetics (Bioengineering; 2010-2011)
Member of MNS committee
Alicia Sawyer, Tuberculosis: Science, Ethics, and Public Health Policy (2005-2006)
Member of Philosophy MA thesis committee (Dalhousie University)
Jeff Kirby, Publicly Funded Health Research in Canada: A Just Cause (2003)
Thane Plantikow, Surviving Personal Identity Theory: Negotiating the Identity of Persons (2003)
James Anderson, Fool’s Gold? Revising the Gold Standard in Clinical Research (2002)
Heather Pessione, North American Cultural Ambivalence Toward Mental Disability (2001)
Jennifer L. Woodrow, Socializing Evolutionary Epistemology (2001)
DEPARTMENTAL AND UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Senior Ethics Advisor to the University Provost, Office of the University Provost, ASU, 2015-
(formerly Vice Provost for Ethics, 2015; Associate Vice Provost for Ethics, 2014-2015)
Member, Academic Senate Task Force on ACD 401 and 402, ASU, 2014-2015
Member, School of Life Sciences Philosophy of Biology Search Committee, ASU, 2014-2015
Member, Executive Committee, Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology PhD Program, ASU, 2007-2015
Co-Chair, University Senate Task Force on Institutional Ethics and Integrity, ASU, 2013-2014
Director of the Bioethics, Policy, and Law Program, School of Life Sciences, ASU, 2008-2013
Member, Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure Committee, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, 2009-2013
Member, School of Life Sciences Developmental Neuroscience Search Committee, ASU, 2012-2013
Member, Scholarly Project Peer Review Committee, The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, 2012-2013
Director, Bioethics, Policy, and Law Program, Center for Biology and Society, School of Life Sciences, ASU, 2008- (co-director, 2007-2008)
Member, Undergraduate Programs Committee, School of Life Sciences, ASU, 2011
Member, Scholarly Project Director Search Committee, The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix in Partnership with Arizona State University, 2010
Member, School of Life Sciences Bioscience Ethics Search Committee, ASU, 2009-2010
Member, Institute for Humanities Research Advisory Council, ASU, 2007-2009
Member, School of Life Sciences Research and Training Initiatives Program Committee, ASU, 2004-2006
Member, School of Life Sciences Neurosciences Search Committee, ASU, 2005-2006
Member, Research Ethics Board, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, 2000-2004
Member, FGS Scholarship Committee, Dalhousie, 2003-2004
Member, FASS Unit Review Committee, International Development Studies, Dalhousie, 2002-2003
Member, FASS Advisory Committee for the Selection of the Co-ordinator for Canadian Studies, Dalhousie, 2001-2002
Member, Education Work Group, Clinical Ethics Committee, Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation, 1998-1999
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Ongoing
Member, Ethics Committee, Hospice of the Valley, Phoenix, AZ, 2009-
Member, Bioethics Committee, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, 2009-
Member, Conflict of Interest Committee, Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Phoenix, AZ, 2008-
Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Biological Theory (MIT Press), 2005-
Referee for many publications and presses, including Bioethics, Biology & Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, Cell Stem Cell, Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, Columbia University Press, Community Genetics, Developing World Bioethics, Environmental Health Perspectives, Environmental Values, Journal of Clinical Ethics, Journal of Medical Ethics, Jurimetrics, Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, Oxford University Press, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Philosophy of Science, Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, University of California Press, University of Chicago Press, Wiley Press, Yale University Press
Completed
Member, Academic Review Committee, The Journal of Healthcare, Science, and the Humanities, 2009-2015
Co-Editor, Philosophy of Biology, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2004-2014
Associate Editor, Public Health Ethics, Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2009-2014
Member, Population and Public Health Research Advisory Committee, Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research (Canada), 2012-2014
Member, Better Business Bureau of Arizona Business Ethics Awards Committee, 2014
Member, Advisory Board, EthicsCORE: Collaborative Online Resource Environment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (funded by the National Science Foundation), 2010-2012
Member, International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Nominating Committee, 2008-2010
Member and Ethics Designate, Institute Advisory Board, Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Population and Public Health, 2003-2009
Member, American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Program Committee, 2006-2008 (co-chair, 2007-2008)
Philosophy Subcommittee Chair, American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Program Committee, 2005-2006
Off-year Workshop Committee, International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, 2005-2006
Member, Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Canadian Lifelong Health Initiative ELSI Advisory Committee, 2003-2007
Member, Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Genetics New Principal Investigators Priority and Planning Committee, 2003-2007
Member, Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Genetics Voluntary Health Organizations Working Group, 2003-2004
Member, Novel Tech Ethics Research Team, Dalhousie University, 2002-2006
Member, International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Membership Development Committee, 2002-2003
Member, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Fellowships “B” Peer-review Committee, 2001-2004
Member, Evolution Study Group, Dalhousie University, 2000-2004
Co-editor, Special issue (volume 18, number 2, 2003) of Biology & Philosophy on “Evolution and Development” (with S. Sarkar), 2001-2003
Convenor, International Workshop on “Genes and Human Behavior: Conceptual Issues”, Dalhousie, November 2002
Organizer, Symposium on “Environmental Genomics: Conceptual, Scientific, and Ethical Issues”, American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, Baltimore, October 2002
Organizer, Symposium on “Philosophical Perspectives on Ecology and Conservation Biology”, Canadian Philosophical Association, Toronto, May 2002
Co-editor, Special issue (volume 5, number 2, 2000) of Ethics and the Environment (with E. Boetzkes) 1999-2000