Erika Blacksher, PhD

Erika Blacksher, PhD, is an ethicist and engagement scientist. Dr. Blacksher studies questions of responsibility and justice raised by U.S. health inequalities and the potential of democratic deliberation to make health a shared value. Her current work focuses on health justice theory and intersectionality; whiteness, poverty, and health; and the theory and methodology of democratic deliberation. She is leading a deliberative initiative that has designed and built a community deliberation toolkit for convening people diverse by race, place, class, and political orientation to problem-together solve about community health challenges. She also collaborates as a co-investigator and consultant to other deliberative initiatives, including the Center for the Ethics of Indigenous Genomic Research at the University of Oklahoma and Fairness Dialogues Field Laboratory at the NIH Department of Bioethics. She has published more than 60 original peer reviewed articles and book chapters and given dozens of invited presentations and lectures.

Dr. Blacksher is the John B. Francis Endowed Chair in Bioethics, an endowed chair at the Center for Practical Bioethics, Kansas City, MO, and a Research Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS. Prior to her current appointments, Dr. Blacksher was tenured faculty in the Department of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington in Seattle; a Research Scholar at The Hastings Center in New York; and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. Dr. Blacksher has master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia’s bioethics program and undergraduate degrees in philosophy and journalism from the University of Kansas.

Academic Title:

John B. Francis Chair in Bioethics

Center for Practical Bioethics; Research Professor

University of Kansas Medical Center

Research

Select Peer Review Publications

Blacksher E, Asada Y, Danis M, Gold M, Kassebaum N, Saint Onge J. Building a “We” with Deliberative Dialogue in Pursuit of Health for All. American Journal of Public Health, accepted July 11, 2023. Forthcoming October 2023.
Blacksher E. Redistribution and Recognition in the Pursuit of Health Justice: An Application of Nancy Fraser’s Critical Theory. In Justice in Global Health, eds. Bhakuni H, Miotto L. Abingdon, Oxford: Routledge. Forthcoming October 2023.
Beans JA, Trinidad SB, Blacksher E, Hiratsuka VY, Spicer P, Woodahl EL, Boyer BB, Lewis CM, Gaffney PM, Garrison NA, Burke W. Communicating Precision Medicine Research: Multidisciplinary Teams and Diverse Communities. Public Health Genomics. 2022;August 23:1-9. DOI:10.1159/000525684.2
Blacksher E, Trinidad SB, Woodbury RB, Hopkins SE, Woodahl EL, Boyer BE, Burke W, Hiratsuka VY. Tribal Deliberations about Precision Medicine Research: Addressing Diversity and Inequity in Democratic Deliberation Design and Evaluation. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics. 2022;17(3):304-316. DOI: 10.1177/15562646221081267
West KM, Cavanaugh KL, Blacksher E, Fullerton SM, Umeukeje EM, Young B, Burke W. Stakeholder Perspectives on Returning Non-Actionable Apolipoprotein (APOL1) Genetic Results to Research Participants. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics. 2022;17(1-2):4-14. doi:10.1177/15562646211063267
Scherer M, Kamler A, Weiss L, Blacksher E, Jeavons J, Gold MR. Using Public Deliberation to Set Priorities: The Case of COVID-19 Vaccine Access in New York City. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 2022;28(1):86-94. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001471. PMID: 34797242.
Trinidad SB, Blacksher E, Woodbury RB, Hopkins SE, Woodahl EL, Burke W, Boyer BB, Hiratsuka VY. Precision Medicine Research with American Indian and Alaska Native communities: Results of a Deliberative Engagement with Tribal leaders. Genet Med. 2021 Nov 30;S1098-3600(21)05380-6 (online ahead of print). doi:10.1016/j.gim.2021.11.003.
Estime SR, Lee HH, Jimenez N, Andreae M, Blacksher E, Navarro R. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Anesthesiology. International Anesthesiology Clinics 2021;59(4):81-85.
Blacksher E, Hiratsuka VY, Blanchard JW, Lund J, Reedy J, Beans JA, Saunkeah B, Peercy M, Byars C, Yracheta J, Tsosie KS, O’Leary M, Ducheneaux G, Spicer PG.Deliberations with American Indian and Alaska Native People about the Ethics of Genomics:Three Tribal Deliberations in the United States, AJOB Empirical Bioethics, accepted March 11, 2021, in press.
Blacksher E, Valles S. White Privilege, White Poverty: Reckoning with Class and Race in America, Hastings Center Report 2021;51 (Suppl1):S51-S57. doi: 10.1002/hast.1230
Blanchard J, Hiratsuka V, Beans JA, Lund J, Saunkeah B, Yracheta J, Woodbury R, Blacksher E, Peercy M, Ketchum S, Byars C, Spicer P. Power Sharing, Capacity Building, and Evolving Roles in ELSI: The Center for the Ethics of Indigenous Genomic Research, Collaborations: A Journal of Community-Based Research and Practice 2020; 3(1):1-13. doi.org/10.33596/coll.71
Reedy J, Blanchard J, Lund J, Spicer P, Byars C, Peercy M, Saunkeah B, Blacksher E. Deliberations about Genomic Research and Biobanks with Citizens of Chickasaw Nation, Frontiers in Genetics 2020;14(11):466.
Adams C, Blacksher E, Burke W. The Precautionary Principle for Shift Work and Decision-Making. Public Health Ethics 2019:12(1):44-53. doi:10.1093/phe/phy005
Blacksher E. Response to Commentaries on “Shrinking Poor White Life Spans.” American Journal of Bioethics 2018;18(11):W1-W4. doi:10.1080/15265161.2018.1523506
Blacksher E. Shrinking Poor White Life Spans: Class, Race, and Health Justice. American Journal of Bioethics (target article, 10 commentaries) 2018;18(10):3-14. doi:10.1080/15265161.2018.1513585
Blacksher E. “Public Health and Social Justice: An Argument Against Stigma as a Tool of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.” In The Handbook of Stigma, Discrimination and Health, Link B, Dovidio J, Major B., eds. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018.
West KM, Blacksher E, Burke W. Genomics, Health Disparities, and Missed Opportunities for the Nation’s Research Agenda. JAMA 2017;317(18): 1831-1832. doi: 10.1001/jama.2017.3096
Blacksher E. “Obesity Prevention in Children: Media Campaigns, Stigma, and Ethical Considerations.” Public Health Ethics: Cases Spanning the Globe, Barrett DH, Ortmann LH, Dawson A, Saenz C, Reis A, Bolan G, eds. New York, NY: Springer International Publishing, 2016. Available online at: http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319238463
Blacksher E, Goold SD. “Black-White Infant Mortality: Disparities, Priorities, and Social Justice in Public Health. Public Health Ethics: Cases Spanning the Globe, Barrett DH, Ortmann LH, Dawson A, Saenz C, Reis A, Bolan G, eds. New York, NY: Springer International Publishing, 2016. Available at: http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319238463
Blacksher E, Nelson C, Van Dyke ER, Bassett D, Echo-Hawk AL, Buchwald DS. Conversations about Community-Based Participatory Research and Trust: “We Are Explorers Together” Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action 2016;10(2):305-9. PMID: 27346777. DOI: 1353/cpr.2016.0039.
Blacksher E, Maree G, Schrandt S, Soderquist C, Steffensmeier T, St. Peter R. Health Policy, Ethics, and the Kansas Legislative Health Academy. American Journal of Public Health 2015;105:485-489. PMID: 25607945. DOI:10.2105/AJPH.
Abelson J, Blacksher E, S. Boesveld, Goold SD, Li K. Public Deliberation in Health Policy and Bioethics: Mapping an Emerging, Interdisciplinary Field. Journal of Public Deliberation 2013; 9(1): Article 5. http://www.publicdeliberation.net/jpd/vol9/iss1/art5.
Blacksher E. Participatory and Deliberative Practices in Health: Meanings, Distinctions, and Implications for Health Equity. Journal of Public Deliberation 2013;9(1): Article 6. http://www.publicdeliberation.net/jpd/vol9/iss1/art6.
Blacksher E. Redistribution and Recognition: Pursuing Social Justice in Public Health. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 2012;21(3):1-12. PMID:22624535. DOI:10.1017/S0963180112000047.
Blacksher E, Diebel A, Forest PG, Goold SD, Abelson J. What Is Public Deliberation? Hastings Center Report 2012;42(2):14-17. PMID:22733324, DOI:10.1002/hast.26.
Blacksher E, Lovasi G. Place-focused Physical Activity Research, Human Agency, and Social Justice in Public Health: Taking Agency Seriously in Studies of the Built Environment. Health & Place 2012;18(2):172-179. PMID:21940195. DOI:10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.018.019.
Blacksher E, Rigby E, Espey C. Public Values, Health Inequality, and Alternative Notions of a “Fair” Response. Journal of Health Policy, Politics, and Law 2010;35(6):889-920. PMID:21451157. DOI:10.1215/03616878-2010-033.
Blacksher E. Health Reform and Health Equity: Sharing Responsibility for Health in the United States. Hofstra Law Review 2010;39:41-58.
Blacksher E. U.S. Health Reform: What’s Prevention Got to Do with It? Perspective. Hastings Center Report 2010;40(6):49.
Blacksher E. Health: The Value at Stake. Hastings Center Report 2009, Special Supplement: 27-29.
Blacksher E. Private Choice, Public Health. Field notes. Hastings Center Report 2009;39(2):i.
Blacksher E. Health Responsibility and Employer-based Penalty Programs. Bioethics Forum, June 29, 2009. http://www.thehastingscenter.org/Bioethicsforum/Post.aspx?id=3632.
Blacksher E. Children’s Health Inequalities: Ethical and Political Challenges to Seeking Social Justice. Hastings Center Report 2008;38(4):28-35. PMID:18709918
Blacksher E. Carrots and Sticks to Promote Healthy Behaviors: A Policy Update. Hastings Center Report 2008;38(3):13-16. PMID: 18581931
Blacksher E. Healthcare Disparities: The Salience of Social Class. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 2008;17(2):143-153.
Blacksher E, Moreno J. 2008. A History of informed Consent in Clinical Research. In The Oxford Textbook of Clinical Research Ethics, Emanuel EJ, et al. eds. New York, NY: Oxford University Press 2008.
Blacksher E. Bioethics and Politics: A Values Analysis. Peer commentary. American Journal of Bioethics 2007;7(10):34.
Blacksher E. On Being Poor and Feeling Poor: Low SES and the Moral Self. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 2002;23(6):455-470.
Blacksher E. Desperately Seeking Difference. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1998;7(1):11-16.

Select National and International Presentations

Blacksher E. Race and Ethnicity as Proxies for Health-Relevant Exposures (panelist). “Are we who we think we are? The multiple dimensions of race and ethnicity.” Health Disparities Committee, NIH Research Festival Week, September 19, 2023.
Asada Y, Blacksher E, Choi T, Scheim A. “Ethics and numbers meet: Quantitative intersectionality research methods,” Panel. Interdisciplinary Association of Population Health Science 2023 Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD. Forthcoming October 5, 2023.
“Intersectional Health Inequalities: What Are They and Why Do They Matter?” National Institutes of Health Department of Bioethics. March 8, 2023.
“Redistribution and Recognition: An Intersectional Account of Health Justice,” Justice in Global Health Workshop, (virtual presentation). October 20, 2022.
“Deliberative Dialogue and Decision-making about U.S. Population Health Challenges in a Hyper-Partisan Era: Pipe Dream or Possible?” Population Health Institute Advisory Board, University of Wisconsin (virtual), October 6, 2022.
“Social Justice in Public Health: Distributive and Recognitional Demands,” Fordham University, Research Ethics Training Institute, New York City, NY, July 15, 2022.
“Health Justice at the Intersection of Class and Race: Whiteness, SES Deprivation, and White Mortality Trends in the US,” European Society of Medicine Annual Conference, Berlin, Germany, August 20-21, 2021.
“Democratic Deliberation in Pandemic Planning and Response: The Ethical and Political Significance of Public Participation,” Virtual Webinar (Panelist). National Hispanic Council on Aging. March 16, 2021.
“From Democratic Theory to Praxis: Translating Democratic Deliberation into Deliberative Engagement,” Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER2) Stakeholder Engagement Workgroup. March 11, 2021.
“Health Justice at the Intersection of Class and Race: Whiteness and Mortality Trends in Low Education White People,” Department of Population Health Seminar, University of Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin. October 26, 2020.
“Error Traps in Equity v Equality,” Session III: Error Traps & Culture of Safety (Panelist). Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (virtual meeting). October 11, 2020.
“The Risk of Stigmatization in Targeted Local Health Policies.” Connecting Local, State and Global Justice in Community Health Policy (Panelist). World Congress of Bioethics and International Association of Bioethics. Philadelphia, PA. June 19, 2020.
“Health Justice in the Genomic Era: The Role of Democratic Deliberation” Genetic and Genomic Testing Outside of Clinical Care: Changing Paradigms for Access, Application, and Understanding. R. Rodney Howell Symposium (Panelist). American College of Medical Genetics Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX. June 5, 2020.
“Health Justice at the Intersection of Class and Race: Concepts of Whiteness and Longevity Loss in Low Education White People” The Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions. The Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, MD. December 9, 2019.
“Concepts of Whiteness and Midlife Mortality Rates and Socioeconomic Disparities.” Presentation to Committee on Rising Midlife Mortality Rates and Socioeconomic Disparities. National Academies of Science. Washington, D.C. July 18, 2019.
“Challenges to Talking About APOL1 Gene Variants and Racial Disparities in Kidney Disease,” Racial Inequalities in Kidney Diseases: Connecting Social Factors to Genetic Risk (Distinguished Faculty). American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2018. San Diego, CA. October 27, 2018.
“Social Values, Population Health Policy, and Public Deliberation.” Understanding Health Values Across Diverse Communities Panel. Sharing Knowledge to Build a Culture of Health Annual Conference. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/AcademyHealth. February 23, 2017.
"Should We Use Stigma as a Public Health Policy Tool?" American Public Health Association, Annual Meeting. Chicago, Illinois. November 3, 2015.
“Ethical Tools to Promote Health in the 21st Century: An Argument Against Stigma.” 34^th International Academy of Law and Mental Health, Vienna, Austria. July 14, 2015.
“Community Forum Demonstration Results: Implications for Public Deliberation: Implications for Public Deliberation as Practice and Theory,” (Invited Commentator). Results of the Community Forum Demonstration: Public Deliberation on the Use of Evidence in Societal and Personal Health Care Decisions. Commentator. Academy Health Annual Research Meeting. Minneapolis, Minnesota. June 14, 2015.
“Public Health Ethics: It’s in the Water.” Keynote. 10^th Annual Governor’s Public Health Conference. Wichita, Kansas. April 29, 2015.
“LBJ’s (Not So) Great Society After Fifty Years: A (Poor) Health Legacy.” Medical Center Hour. University of Virginia School of Medicine. Charlottesville, Virginia. February 11, 2015.
“Public Health and Social Justice: Should Stigma Be Used as a Policy Tool?” Center for Population Health, Seminar. Harvard University. Boston, Massachusetts. December 4, 2014.
“Responsibility for Health Disparities: The Promise of a Social Connection Model.” American Public Health Association, Annual Meeting. New Orleans, Louisiana. November 18, 2014.
“Making Marginalized Voices Count in Public Policy.” 9^th Annual Trudeau Foundation Conference on Public Policy: The Common Good: Who Decides? Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. November 23, 2012.
“Participatory and Deliberative Processes in Health: A Conceptual and Ethical Analysis.” American Public Health Association, Annual Meeting. San Francisco, California, October 30, 2012.
“Distributive Equity and Equal Recognition: Challenges to Social Justice in Public Health.” American Public Health Association, Annual Meeting. Denver, Colorado. November 9, 2010.
“Deliberative and Participatory Processes in Public Health: A Comparative Analysis.” University of Michigan, Public Deliberation, Ethics, and Health Policy: Advancing a New Research Field International Conference. Ann Arbor, Michigan. September 10, 2010.
“Health Reform and Health Equity: Sharing Responsibility for Health in the United States.” Hofstra University, New Directions in American Health Care: Innovations from Home and Abroad Conference. Hempstead, New Jersey. March 11, 2010.
“Reorienting U.S. Health Reform Toward Health for All.” Rethinking Healthcare Conference, Public Lecture. Mount Holyoke College. South Hadley, Massachusetts. October 14, 2009.
“The Poor State of Americans’ Health and Health Care: A Matter of Social Justice.” Keynote. Kansas Health Ethics, Statewide Conference. Wichita, Kansas. April 3, 2009.
“When Life Makes You Sick: The Social Determinants of Health and the Ethical Implications for Health Care.” Brown University, Ethics Night. Providence, Rhode Island. January 14, 2009.
“Ethics and Politics of Health Promotion: Personal and Social Responsibility.” American Public Health Association, Annual Meeting. Washington D.C. November 6, 2007.
“Health Justice: A Call for ‘Post-Ideological’ Health Policy.” Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Health & Society Scholars Annual Meeting. Chicago, Illinois. April 3, 2007.
“The Public Health and Public Good: A Community-Based Model for Health Care Reform.” International Bioethics Retreat. Amalgro, Spain. June 5-7, 2002.
“Building a Bioethics Bridge: A Model for Public Engagement and Building Social Capital.” Civic Genetics Conference, The Hastings Center. Garrison, New York. April 8, 2002.
“U.S. Bioethics Unplugged: Social Determinants of Health in America.” International Academy of Law and Mental Health. Montreal, Canada. July 2, 2001.
“On Being Poor and Feeling Poor: The Impact of Low SES on the Self.” American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, Annual Meeting. Salt Lake City, Utah. October 28, 2000.
“Grassroots Bioethics: Community-State Partnerships to Improve EOLC” and “Sustaining a Freestanding Bioethics Center.” American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, Annual Meeting. Houston, Texas. November 18-21, 1998.
“Desperately Seeking Difference.” What Differences Make a Difference Conference. The Hastings Center, Briarcliff Manor, New York. May 1996.

Search form

Erika Blacksher, PhD

Erika Blacksher, PhD

Research

Courses Taught

News & Events