Constance Perry

Constance Perry, PhD, is an associate professor in the health administration department within the College of Nursing and Health Professions of Drexel University. She received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Buffalo, specializing in biomedical ethics and completed a fellowship in clinical ethics from Loyola University in Chicago. She teaches courses on bioethics and research ethics to undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students.

Until the hospital’s closure, she co-chaired the Hahnemann University Hospital clinical ethics committee and oversaw its consult service. She has served on IRBs and ethics committees for hospices. Currently she serves as the ethicist for the Drexel University IACUC and the FIMR-HIV panel for the greater Philadelphia area.

Her peer-reviewed articles and book chapters cover a wide range of topics, including bias in risk assessment, Kant’s view of suicide, uterine transplants, birth plans, primate research, decerebration as anesthesia, research ethics, ethics education for physician assistant students and obstetric residents and elective c-sections, among other topics. She has given presentations nationally and internationally on a wide variety of topics in bioethics and has been part of three grant funded projects.

Her current research interests include ethical issues in pregnancy, autonomy, personhood, animal experimentation, moral status and clinical ethics consultation. She is currently working on a book involving autonomy and pregnancy.