Biography
I am a lecturer and researcher in biomedical ethics. My research interests are focussed on the ethical implications of innovation and research in all areas of the biosciences, including: new reproductive technologies; research ethics and governance; justice and resource allocation. My doctoral research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, was on the ethics of using artificial gametes in reproduction.
Career
2008 Lecturer in Ethics, Norwich School of Medicine, University of East Anglia
2005 – 2007 Lecturer in Medical Ethics, London Metropolitan University
2004 – 2007 Doctoral student, Imperial College, London
1997 – 2002 Project Manager, The CRM-Forum, Edinburgh
Professional Qualifications and professional memberships
Independent assessor for the Human Tissue Authority
Vice chair of Riverside Research Ethics Committee 2006-2011
Member of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital clinical ethics committee
Advisory group member of Progress Educational Trust – a charity promoting education and debate on issues related to genetics and reproductive technology
Member of the Institute of Medical Ethics’ Education Project steering group
Research Interests
Reproductive ethics
The interface between legal, ethical and regulatory approaches to medicine
Distributive justice
Research ethics
Selected publications
Publications:
Smajdor A. In defense of ectogenesis. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. 2012;21:90-103.
Smajdor A. Ethical challenges in foetal surgery. Journal of Medical Ethics. 2011;37:88-91.
Smajdor A, Stöckl A, Salter C. The limits of empathy: problems in medical education and practice. Journal of Medical Ethics. 2011;37:380-383.
Smajdor A. The ethics of IVF over 40. Maturitas. 2011;69:37–40.
Smajdor A, Sydes MR, Gelling L, Wilkinson M. Applying for ethical approval for research in the United Kingdom. British Medical Journal. 2009;339:b4013.
Smajdor A. Should IVF guidelines be relaxed in the UK?. Expert Review of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2009;4(5):501-508.
Smajdor A. The ethics of egg donation in the over 50s Menopause International. 2008;14(4):173–177.
Smajdor A. The changing face of IVF regulation. Expert review of obstetrics & Gynecology. 2008;3(4):433-436.
Smajdor A, Baldock E, Langlois A, Ives J. Getting from the empirical to the ethical and back again. Health Care Analysis. 2008;16(1).
Smajdor A. Deciding the fate of disputed embryos: ethical issues in the case of Natallie Evans. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Assisted Reproduction. 2007;4:2.
Smajdor A. The moral imperative for ectogenesis. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. 2007;16(3):336-345.
Smajdor A. State-funded IVF will make us rich ...or will it? Journal of Medical Ethics. 2007;33:468-469.
Newson A, Smajdor A. Artificial gametes: new paths to parenthood?. With Ainsley Newson. Journal of Medical Ethics. 2005;31(3):184-186.
Book Chapters
Smajdor A. Harm, law and reproductive cloning. In Arguments and Analysis in Bioethics. Hayri M, Takala T. (eds). Amsterdam/New York, NY: Rodopi. 2010.
Smajdor A. Between fecklessness and selfishness: is there a biologically optimal time for motherhood? A reply to Daniel Callahan. In Simonstein F (ed.) Reprogen-ethics and the future of gender. Springer. 2009. 105-117.
Book
Deech R, Smajdor A. From IVF to immortality: controversy in the era of reproductive technology. Oxford University Press. 2007.
Current Research Projects and Grants
2011-12: Wellcome Trust Small Arts Award (Collaborator)
2010-11: Wellcome Trust People Award Principal Investigator
Academic Background
2008 PhD ‘Artificial gametes and reproduction’ – Imperial College, London
2004 MA(Res) Environment, Culture and Society (Distinction) - Lancaster University.
2003 MSc Medical Ethics (Distinction) - Imperial College, London.
1995 MA Honours Mental Philosophy - Edinburgh University
Additional Contacts
Personal website: www.annasmajdor.me.uk
Key Research Interests
I have research interests in ethical questions related to the following areas:
- New reproductive technologies
- Genetics
- Embryo and stem cell research
- Justice and resource allocation in healthcare provision
- Health law and regulation
My PhD thesis was an exploration of the ethical considerations arising from the development of artificial gametes. I analysed the ethical reasoning that underpins policy-making in the context of reproductive technology, arguing that new developments have the capacity to challenge law and regulation in this area, since they call into question the concepts of fertility and infertility.
Recent research activities have included an analysis of the ethical issues raised by older and postmenopausal mothers. I evaluate a number of arguments that are commonly cited in this context, such as the idea that women are consciously choosing to delay pregnancy, that there is a biologically optimal age for reproduction independent of social factors, and that children are harmed or disadvantaged by being born to older women.
Teaching Interests
Bio-medical ethics
Moral theory
Critical reasoning
Key Responsibilities
I am the domain lead for ethics teaching on the MBBS course at Norwich School of Medicine
Administrative Posts/Responsibilities
- Selected presentations and conference papers
- 2012 – The harm threshold. 11th World Congress of Bioethics, Rotterdam. Bioethics and the future, and the future of Bioethics.
- 2012 – Ethics of postmenopausal motherhood. 9th European Congress on Menopause and Andropause, Athens. Advancing midlife health and beyond.
- 2011 – What right have you to tell me I have rights? UEA 2011 public lecture series, Norwich. Human rights and their critics. (With Professor Catherine Osborne)
- 2011 - Can we construe reproductive age as ‘health behaviour’? The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, Cambridge. Health and Welfare Symposium.
- 2010 –Empathy and medical progress. University of Bristol, department of philosophy. Progress in medicine. (With Andrea Stockl and Charlotte Salter)
- 2009 –Ethics of older motherhood. University College London. Motherhood in the 21st Century.
- 2009 –Foetal surgery: means, ends and the supererogatory. European Society for Philosophy of Medicine and Healthcare, Tubingen. Sources and perspectives of bioethics.
- 2008 – The Harm of Being: ethics and reproduction. UEA 2008 public lecture series, Norwich. Matters of life and death.
- 2008 – The unborn patient: implications of foetal surgery. Centre for Social Ethics and Policy, School of Law, University of Manchester. Senior Seminar Series.
- 2008 – Artificial gametes: the final frontier. International Association of Bioethics, Croatia. 9th World Congress of Bioethics.
- 2006 –The moral imperative for ectogenesis. International Association of Bioethics, Beijing. 8th World Congress of Bioethics.
- 2006 – Parents in a petri-dish: the challenge of artificial gametes’. British Fertility Summer School, Glasgow.
- 2005 – Gametes from stem cells. Progress Educational Trust Annual Conference, London. Putting stem cells into practice.
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