Foundation Announces Greenwall Faculty Scholars Class of 2025

The Foundation’s flagship Greenwall Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics helps build the next generation of leaders in bioethics by supporting early-career faculty members to carry out innovative bioethics research, and by building an intellectually rich and active community. Since 2002, the Foundation has supported over 60 Scholars from 40 different institutions.

Matthew McCoy, PhD is Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. His project is “Navigating Ethical Issues in Medical Venture Philanthropy.”

Abstract: A growing number of nonprofit patient organizations are funding medical research in both the academic and private sectors while claiming ownership stakes in the products of that research. This model of “venture philanthropy” has been hailed as a paradigm of patient-driven drug development that can spur discovery of new cures. But as mission-driven organizations act more like businesses, they must weigh the benefits of trying to accelerate medical innovation and earn financial returns against the risk that new financial entanglements will undermine their pursuit of patient interests. Amid these developments, this project will seek to generate ethical guidance for actors in this space.

Wangui Muigai, PhD is Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies and History at Brandeis University. Her project is “Trusting Black Women: Exploring Identity, Decision-Making, and History.”

Abstract: This project will seek to examine trust through the health experiences and ethical perspectives of Black women in the United States. In bringing together bioethical inquiry and historical analysis that centers Black women’s narratives, it asks: What does trust mean for Black women? How have Black women articulated their views and values about trust? How might these insights guide clinicians, policymakers, and other stakeholders invested in enhancing trust in medicine and addressing the health needs of Black women? In analyzing past and present views on an issue that is vital to bioethics, medicine, and society, the project aims to inform and reframe debates about race, gender, and health care.

Joel Michael Reynolds, PhD is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Disability Studies at Georgetown University. His project is “Addressing the Roots of Disability Health Disparities.”

Abstract: What role do concepts of disability play in the multiple, significant health disparities faced by disabled people? Motivated by research suggesting that we lack the conceptual distinctions necessary to appreciate clinically relevant differences between types of disability, Prof. Reynolds’ project aims to develop a theory of disability that is appropriately complex and nuanced. Drawing upon decades of work in disability studies and philosophy of disability, this project raises vital questions about the roots of disability health disparities and seeks to ameliorate the longstanding tension between disability activism and medical institutions.