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

At The Brody School of Medicine, Dr. Malek teaches in the M-1 “Ethical and Social Issues in Medicine” course, facilitates ethics discussions in the Obstetrics and Gynecology M-3 Clerkship, and teaches “Philosophy and Medicine” as an M-4 selective in the spring.  She also teaches the "Responsible Conduct of Research" course for doctoral students from The Brody School of Medicine and ECU’s Graduate School.

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. Dr. Malek’s 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 projects on the ethics of research with human subjects.

e-mail: malekj@ecu.edu