Janet Malek joined the Department of Medical Humanities in 2004. She received her doctorate in philosophy from Rice University in 2004 and her bachelor’s degree from Duke University in 1998.

At The Brody School of Medicine, Dr. Malek teaches in the M-1 and M-2 “Ethical and Social Issues in Medicine” courses and teaches “Research Ethics in the Biomedical Sciences” for doctoral students. She also teaches “Philosophy and Medicine” as an M-4 selective in the spring.

Her dissertation, “The Decision to Conceive and the Concept of Harm,” explored the possibility that future children can be harmed by their parents’ conception decisions and the parental obligations that may be generated by that possibility of harm. Her primary research interests are in the ethical questions surrounding reproduction, the use of assisted reproductive technologies, and the use of genetic technologies. She is also working on several projects on the ethics of research with human subjects.

e-mail: malekj@ecu.edu