During the COVID-19 pandemic, state governments adopted policies that profoundly affected personal and public life, in some cases imposing costs, curtailing freedom and exacerbating inequities. It’s often claimed that such high-stakes policy decisions should be ethically assessed, should account for the diverse perspectives and values held by the public, and should be clearly explained and justified to the public. This project aims to improve the frequency and quality of such activities by creating ethics guidance and tools that are fine-tuned to real-world pandemic policy-making contexts.
Our Grants
Enabling Ethical Analysis and Public Justification in State-Level Pandemic Responses in the United States
Anne Barnhill, PhD
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
Grant Type
Making a Difference
Grant Cycle
spring 2021
Duration
24 months
Amount
$216,382
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Katelyn Esmonde et al., Walking a tightrope: The accounts of U.S. state level senior communication officials on promoting trust and transparency in the COVID-19 pandemic, SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, Jun 2026
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Jeff Jones et al., Under-Funded and Under-Pressure: State Epidemiologists During the COVID-19 Response, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, May 2025
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Jeff Jones et al., Views From State-Level Policy Actors About the US Federal Government COVID-19 Response, Health Security, Feb 2025
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Katelyn Esmonde et al., ‘Staying in the lane’ of public health? Boundary-work in the roles of state health officials and experts in COVID-19 policymaking, Sociology of Health & Illness, Jan 2024
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Grant Focus Areas
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