Dr. Michelle McGowan is an empirical bioethicist at the Mayo Clinic based in Rochester, Minnesota Her research explores ethical and social implications of the rapid increase in emerging health technologies and policies.

Dr. McGowan completed her Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) University of Washington and a Post Doctoral Fellowship Case Western Reserve University in the Field of Study of Bioethics and Genetic Research Ethics.

Combining a range of qualitative and normative methods, Dr. McGowan's approach to bioethics scholarship focuses on addressing systemic inequalities in access, uptake and delivery of healthcare and health technologies.

Dr. McGowan studies implications of the uneven distribution of benefits and burdens of digital, reproductive and genetic healthcare resources. She also studies gender and justice implications of uneven use of health technologies. In addition, she studies structural and resource-related health disparities of technological innovation in healthcare.

Additional Focus Areas

• Exploring ethical and logistical implications of the expanding use of digital technologies and decentralized approaches when enrolling participants who have historically been underrepresented in clinical research and clinical trials, such as children and pregnant people.
• Understanding how teenagers and parents feel about using digital technologies and shared decision-making approaches to engage young people in learning their personal genomic information in the context of research.
• Examining ethical and social implications of federal, state and institutional reproductive healthcare and technology policies for digital innovation and the equitable distribution of comprehensive reproductive healthcare.
• Anticipating ethical, regulatory and social issues in applying sensing technologies, such as wearables and mobile devices, in healthcare and biomedical research contexts.
• Incorporating viewpoints of patients, consumers, healthcare professionals and researchers into debates about personalized and precision medicine, big data research initiatives, and direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing.