The Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Sean A. Valles as Center Director. Additionally, associate professor Dr. Karen Kelly-Blake has been promoted to Assistant Director.

Dr. Sean A. Valles is a philosopher of health specializing in the ethical and evidentiary complexities of how social contexts combine to create patterns of inequitable health disparities. He was most recently an associate professor in Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University. He served as Director of Graduate Programs in the Department of Philosophy, and Director of the interdisciplinary Science and Society at State program. His research spans a range of topics in the philosophy of population health, from the use of evidence in medical genetics to the roles played by race concepts in epidemiology.

Dr. Valles is author of the 2018 book Philosophy of Population Health: Philosophy for a New Public Health Era. He is also co-editor of the Oxford University Press book series “Bioethics for Social Justice.” Dr. Valles received his PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from Indiana University Bloomington.

Dr. Karen Kelly-Blake is an associate professor in the Center for Ethics and the Department of Medicine. She has been with the Center since 2009. Her research interests include health services research, shared decision-making, decision aid development and implementation, clinical communication skills and training, mHealth, racism and morbidity and mortality, bioethics, medical workforce policy, and men’s health.

Dr. Kelly-Blake is a co-investigator on the NIH-funded project “Improving Diabetic Patients’ Adherence to Treatment and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease.” She is also co-chair of the College of Human Medicine Admissions Committee. Dr. Kelly-Blake received her PhD in Medical Anthropology from Michigan State University.

Please visit our website to read a joint statement from Dr. Valles and Dr. Kelly-Blake on moving toward a new health justice and equity mission for the Center.