Nanotechnology: Ethics and Society

With 30 years experience in the health care industry, Deb Bennett-Woods EdD, FACME, brings an interest-ing combination of experience in strategic leadership, organizational development, management theory, and applied ethics to her work in the area of nanotechnology and other emerging technologies. She holds a B.S, in Psychology and Vocational Reha-bilitation, an M.A. in Counseling Psychology, and a doc-torate in Educational Leadership from the University of Northern Colorado. She is an associate professor in the Department of Health Care Ethics at Regis University in Denver, CO, where she also directs the Center for Eth-ics and Leadership in the Health Professions. She is a Fellow of the Center on Nanotechnology and Society in the Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology. She is also a board-certified Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives and holds credentials with the American Health Information Management Association. Prior to her current position, she was the founding Director of the Department of Health Care Ethics and the Director of the Department of Health Services Administration and Management, also at Regis University. She currently teaches courses with an applied focus in health care ethics across all graduate and undergraduate programs in the Rueckert-Hartman School for Health Professions. From 1993 to 2000, she was the Director of the Department of Health Services Administration and Management at Regis University where she administered programs in Health Information Man-agement, Medical Imaging Management and Health Care and coordinated the design and launch of the graduate program in HealthAdministration, Services Administration. Prior to 1993, she had 12 years of administrative experience in health care settings. She was a member of the Task Force on Social and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology of the Colorado Nanotechnology Initiative and currently serves on the Environmental, Health & Safety Committee of the Colorado Nanotechnology Alliance. She has presented at both national and inter-national conferences on the topic of ethical issues in nanotechnology. Her particular interests lie in the areas of emerging technologies in health care, and the convergence of technologies such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and robotics as they relate to health care and related social policy, as well as the deeper philosophical questions regarding human enhancement and life extension. She is published on a variety of topics including two proprietary texts commissioned for use by Regis University and The College Network entitled Ethics and Society (2002) and Research in Nursing (2003).