Who We Are

Christy Simpson, PhD

Ethics Collaborations Coordinator, Dalhousie University

Christy Simpson is the Department Head of the Department of Bioethics at Dalhousie University. She is the coordinator for the ethics-based collaborations between the Department, Capital Health and the IWK Health Centre, as well as NSHEN. Her primary responsibilities include ethics education and capacity-building, policy development and review, and support for clinical and organizational ethics consultations.

Christy completed her doctorate in philosophy, specializing in bioethics, at the Department of Philosophy at Dalhousie University in 2001. During her doctoral studies, Christy also undertook two clinical practicums at local healthcare facilities, which stimulated her interest in the role of hope in healthcare. Her research in this area continued during a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta (2000-2002) and is still strong today, in conjunction with health care ethics. Other research interests include rural bioethics and organizational ethics.

Marika Warren, PhD

Health Care Ethicist

Marika Warren is an assistant professor with the Department of Bioethics at Dalhousie University and a health care ethicist for the Nova Scotia Health Ethics Network (NSHEN). Her role with NSHEN involves building ethics capacity in Nova Scotia by providing ethics support such as education, consultation, and assistance with policy development. Marika also participates in ethics research and collaborations as a member of the Ethics Collaborations Team.

Marika completed a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Toronto. Her dissertation focused on equality rights in the case of severe cognitive disability.  She gained additional experience in bioethics as an undergraduate research assistant at the University of Alberta’s John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre for a project entitled “Relational Ethics: Foundation for Health Care” and through work for the Provincial Health Ethics Network (PHEN) in Alberta between 1999 and 2008.

Marika’s broad research interest is in social justice and equality, particularly in the context of health and health care.  Specific areas of current interest include policy and organizational ethics, social determinants of health, relational conceptions of autonomy, feminist bioethics, the intersection of academic and clinical bioethics, and disability rights.

Lisbeth Witthøfft Nielsen

Program Coordinator

Lisbeth Witthøfft Nielsen is affiliated as lecturer at the Department of Bioethics at Dalhousie University and is the Program Coordinator for the Nova Scotia Health Ethics Network.

In her role as program coordinator, Lisbeth contributes to the production of NSHEN’s online ethics education resources and tools, including the NSHEN Fireside Chat series, Featured Article Summaries, NSHEN’s Book Club, and the newly added ethics resource feature ‘Ethics After Hours’.

Amanda Porter, PhD

Health Care Ethicist

Amanda Porter is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioethics at Dalhousie University and a member of the Ethics Collaborations Team which participates in ethics-based collaborations between the Department, Nova Scotia Health, the IWK Health Centre and the Nova Scotia Health Ethics Network (NSHEN).  Amanda completed her doctorate in philosophy at Western University and a fellowship in Clinical Ethics at London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London.  Prior to joining the Bioethics Department, she worked as a Clinical Ethicist for Alberta Health Services and then as a Policy Analyst for the Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists.

Amanda’s work focuses on clinical and organizational ethics issues that arise in health care. Her collaborative work is intended to build capacity and opportunity for thoughtful handling of ethically challenging situations that arise in everyday practice.

Krista Mleczko-Skerry

Administrator

Krista Mleczko-Skerry is the Administrator of the Nova Scotia Health Ethics Network. Her primary responsibilities include managing NSHEN administratively, coordinating Network education and events, and liaising with Network partners throughout the province.