Biography
Debra is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the Department of Bioethics. She holds an MA in Bioethics from the Ohio State University (2021) and an MSc in Public Health from Sweden's Lund University (2017). She received her BAs, also from Ohio State, in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Communication Analysis (2015). She brings together expertise in public health, bioethics, and gender studies to explore how gender and sexuality shape healthcare experiences. Her work centers on amplifying the voices of marginalized communities and rethinking care models to be more just, inclusive, and compassionate.
Debra鈥檚 work centers on the health and ethical concerns of transgender and intersex communities, situated within a broader commitment to LGBTQIA2S+ health equity. Through a queer bioethics lens, she explores key issues such as mental health, reproductive decision-making, and disparities in sexual health. She has presented her work both nationally and internationally, contributing insights on topics including mental health inequities among transgender adults in Sweden, options for reproductive preservation in intersex children, the clinical and ethical distinctions between transgender and intersex healthcare, the use of evidence-based data in gender-affirming care for trans youth, and how concepts like 鈥渕edical necessity鈥� are framed in the treatment of intersex children.
She is currently working on her dissertation, Making Sense of Medicalization: Intersex Embodiment, Agency, and Healthcare Across the Life Course, which examines how intersex adults reflect on and navigate medical interventions and their long-term effects on identity, embodiment, and relationships with healthcare.
Beyond her research, Debra is the Department of Bioethics PhD representative for the Biomedical Graduate Student Organization (BGSO) and serves on the university鈥檚 Academic Integrity and Student Conduct Judicial Boards.
Debra鈥檚 work is guided by a deep belief in the importance of dignity, respect, and equitable care for all. She works to advance systems that empower people of all sexual and gender identities to live fully and on their own terms.
Teaching
CWRU Courses Taught
BETH 315/415: Study Abroad - Paris, France (co-instructor)
BETH 371: Advanced Bioethics (co-instructor)
BETH 602: Special Topics in Bioethics: Queer Bioethics
BETH 424: Queer Bioethics (designed and launched)
Teaching Interests
- Queer Methodologies
- Feminist Ethics
- Sexual and Reproductive Health Ethics
- Public Health Ethics
- Health and Healthcare Communication
- Disability Bioethics
Research
Research Interests
- Queer Identities
- LGBTQIA2S+ Healthcare
- Health Disparities for Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Expansive Populations
- Public Health and Sexual and Gender Minorities
- Transgender and intersex communities in the EU
- Gender-affirming care for transgender youth
- Queer and Crip approaches to health and embodiment
Professional Memberships
- American Public Health Association
- American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
- Bioethics Network of Ohio
- European Professional Association for Transgender Health
- National Student Bioethics Association
- Swedish Network for International Health
Publications
Presentations
"Disrupting the Norm: Intersex, Transgender, and Deaf Resistances to Medicalization." Poster presentation, EPATH 6th conference, Hamburg, Germany, September 2025.
"Lingering Legacies: Hauntology and the Spectral Logic of Necessity in Intersex Medicalization." Oral Presentation, ROLES Sexuality and Gender Studies Network 14th Annual Conference, Birmingham, UK (online), June 2025.
Queer Methodologies PhD School, Durham University, UK 鈥� Participant, Spring 2025
Selected to participate in an interdisciplinary program focused on queer approaches to research design, epistemology, ethical practices ethics, and the medical humanities.
"Policy vs. Practice: Medical Temporalities and Transgender Experiences in Reproductive Preservation." Oral Presentation, UTMB 9th Reproductive Ethics Conference, Galveston, Texas, January 2025 (upcoming).
"Making a Right Turn: Collaborative Initiatives for Health Care Among Transgender Migrants and Refugees in Sweden" Poster presentation, National Student Bioethics Association conference, online, April 2024.
"More than Forced Pregnancy, Forced Detransition." Oral presentation, UTMB 8th Reproductive Ethics Conference, Galveston, Texas, January 2024.
"Conserving Personhood: Meaning, Experience, and Regret in Intersex-affirming Healthcare, 'Intersexuality and Interpretational Disconnects: Exploring Parental Divides'". Panel discussion; "Narrative Ethics, Queering the Function of Intersex鈥�. Oral presentation, ASBH 25th Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, October 2023.
"Discovering Intersex and Transgender", Online panel discussion, Trans Matters Worldwide webinar, London, England, July 2023.
"The Child MC and the Intersections of Intersex: Exploring Norms that Influence Care." Oral presentation, Metro Grand Rounds, Cleveland, Ohio, June 2023.
"Healthcare, Reproductive Ethics, and Transgender Populations in the EU." Oral presentation; "Transgender and Intersex Conceptions: Ambiguity, Ambivalence, and Responsibility." Oral presentation, 5th EPATH conference, Killarney, Ireland, April 2023.
"Medicine, Intersex, and Conceptions of Futurity." Oral presentation, UTMB 7th Reproductive Ethics Conference, Galveston, Texas, January 2023.
"Healthcare Providers and Disconnects of Ethical Responsibility: Improving Practices to Support Transgender Reproductive Options." Oral presentation, 4th EPATH conference, Reconnecting and Redefining Transgender Healthcare, G枚teborg, Sweden, August 2021.
"Barriers to Transgender Mental Health Services in Sweden." Poster presentation, 3rd EPATH conference, Inside Matters: on Law, Ethics and Religion. Rome, Italy, April 2019.
Awards
2025 Richard A. Zdanis Rsearch Fellowship
Education
Master of Arts, The Ohio State University Bioethics, 2021
Master of Science, Lund University, Public Health, 2017
Bachelor of Arts, The Ohio State University, Communication and Practice, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, 2015