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Health Care Ethics Research Conference

The Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics at Saint Louis University is pleased to announce the 12th annual Health Care Ethics Research Conference on April 11, 2025, on the SLU campus.

The Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics will kick off the research conference with our distinguished lecturer Professor Keith Wailoo, Ph.D., at noon CST on Friday, April 11, in the Anheuser-Busch Auditorium of Cook Hall. Wailoo will present "The Politics of Pain: Opioids, Race, and Relief in America." 

This conference is designed to foster advanced academic discourse in fields related to health care ethics, feature and affirm research by health care ethics students, and increase awareness of ethical issues in science and medicine to the university and wider community.

Registration is free.

Register for the conference

Abstract Submission

This is a general conference discussing any research relevant to medical ethics. The conference welcomes abstracts from graduate and undergraduate students in any area within the scope of bioethics, health care ethics or medical humanities. There is no limit to the kind of material students can present within these areas. Students may come from any academic institution and study any discipline. 

The conference will accept abstract submissions related to bioethics, health care ethics or medical humanities from students of any academic institution in any discipline. Only individuals currently enrolled at an academic institution may submit abstracts. Other submissions will not be accepted. Students are encouraged to submit abstracts for research projects and papers that were completed to fulfill a course requirement, as well as independent research projects. 

Abstracts should be 300 words or less, the submission deadline is March 14, 2025. Once your abstract is submitted, you'll need to prepare roughly a 15-minute presentation of your research. Students are encouraged to submit abstracts for research projects and papers that were completed to fulfill a course requirement, as well as independent research projects. 

Submit your abstract

Call for papers (PDF)

Prize

Monetary prizes will be awarded for top papers in each of the following submission categories: Graduate, Undergraduate-Senior and Undergraduate-Non-Senior. Each category's first- and second-place winner will receive a cash prize. 

Past Winners 

2024
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Sebastian Martinez and Adamya Aggarwal (Co-Presenters) & Megan Hughes (First *tied), Ellen Reseck (Second)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations: Sindhu Ragunathan (First), Sara Parikh (Second)
  • Graduate Presentation: Peter Swindeman & Allison Burton (First *tied), Andrew Ertzberger & Dakota Kinsella (Co-Presenters -Second)
2023
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Sara Parikh (First),  Emma Jokisch (Second)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations: Mia Romero (First), Nicole Neisen & Shae Parsons (Second *tied)
  • Graduate Presentation: Spencer Schmid (First), Dakotah Kinsella & Alexander Zhang (Second *tied), Sarosh Saleem (Honorable Mention)
2022
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Sophie Crane (First),  Sara Parikh (Second)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations: Megan Doehner (First), Andrew Rich (Second)
  • Graduate Presentation (Room A): Jeffrey Poomkudy (First), Natalie Hardy (Second)
  • Graduate Presentation (Room B): Andrea Eidsvik (First),  Stephanie Tillman  (Second)
2021
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Megan Doehner (First),  Sara Parikh (Second)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations: Shannon Quinn & Lauren Cardoza (First *tied), Katherine Gnanarajah (Second)
  • Graduate Presentation: Allie Bodin (First), Matthew Derek Estes (Second)
2020
  • Poster: Katherine Gnanarajah
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Morgan Kelly (First),  Elizabeth Rhoades (Second)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations: Allie Bodin (First),  Kelsey King (Second)
  • Graduate Presentation: Sarah Sawicki (First - SLU student),  Jayun Bae (First - Duke student), Addison Tenorio (Second)
2019
  • Poster: Sidney Smith (First), Karen Rieffel (Second)
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Twinkle Patel (First),  Kay Mastrocola and Ami Patel (Second *tied)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations:  Lohitha Guntupalli (First),  Rachel Holtgrive (Second)
  • Graduate Presentation: Jaime Konerman-Sease (First),  Jordan Mason (Second)
2018
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Twinkle Patel & Kay Mastrocola (First *tied), Catherine Gale (Second)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations: Jasman Sidhu (First), Sweta Boopatiraju (Second)
  • Graduate Presentation: Ben Parks (First),  Kirsten Antonacci Dempsey (Second)
2017
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Manfred Cewe (First), Catherine Gale (Second)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations: Luke Ruzowski (First), Jennifer Mathews (Second)
  • Graduate Presentation: Ysabel Johnston (First),  Anne Freidrich and Jaime Konerman-Sease (Second *tied)
2016
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Jennifer Mathews (First), Meghan Campbell (Second)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations: Megan Danzo (First), Catherine Larsen (Second)
  • Graduate Presentation: Michelle Bach (First),  Kayla Kostelecky and Ruaim Muaygil (Second *tied)
2015
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Jennifer Mathews (First)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations: Siddharth Bhayani (First), Vishal Thakkar (Second)
  • Graduate Presentation: Boaz Goss (First),  Nathaniel Hibner (Second)
2014
  • Undergraduate Presentations: Gabrielle Broders (First)
  • Senior Undergrad Presentations: Shelly Gulhar (First)
  • Graduate General Presentation: Rachelle Barinna (First),  Brad Thornock (Second)
  • Graduate Theology Presentation: Alyson Isaksson (First - Loyola University Chicago),  Emily Transick (Second)