- Core Faculty
Berman Institute of Bioethics - Associate Professor
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Maria Merritt is a core faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. A major objective of Dr. Merritt’s current research, in collaboration with colleagues, is to develop a novel methodology for considering social justice impacts side-by-side with cost-effectiveness as part of economic evaluation in health policy. Dr. Merritt’s other areas of scholarly interest include the ethics of public health research in low- and middle-income countries – particularly questions about researchers’ responsibilities to benefit research participants and populations – and moral psychology, the study of feeling, thought, and action in morally significant contexts.
Dr. Merritt served as Associate Chair for Student Matters in the JHSPH Department of International Health from July 2016 through August 2020, and has served as Program Officer for the JHU Exploration of Practical Ethics since 2015. From September 2020 through June 2021, she will be a Visiting Scholar at the NIH Department of Bioethics.
Research Interests
- Developing a novel methodology for considering social justice impacts side-by-side with cost-effectiveness as part of economic evaluation in health policy
- Ethics of public health research in low- and middle-income countries – particularly questions about researchers’ responsibilities to benefit research participants and populations
- Moral psychology, the study of feeling, thought, and action in morally significant contexts
Education
- B.S., Wake Forest University
- B.A., Oxford University
- Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Clinical Bioethics, NIH
Recent Publications
- Dowdy DW, Zwerling AA, Stennett A, Searle A, Dukhanin V, Taylor HA, Merritt MW (senior and corresponding author), “Measuring Stigma to Assess the Social Justice Implications of Health-Related Policy Decisions: Application to Novel Treatment Regimens for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis,” Medical Decision Making Policy & Practice (2020): 5(1): https://doi.org/10.1177/2381468320915239
- Merritt MW, Sutherland CS, Tediosi F, “Ethical Considerations for Global Health Decision-Making: Justice-Enhanced Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of New Technologies for Trypanosoma brucei gambiense,” Public Health Ethics (2018): phy013, https://doi.org/10.1093/phe/phy013
- Harrison KL, Taylor HA, Merritt M, “Action Guide for Addressing Ethical Challenges of Resource Allocation within Community-Based Healthcare Organizations,” Journal of Clinical Ethics (2018): 29(2): 124-138
- Dukhanin VA, Searle A, Zwerling A, Dowdy DW, Taylor HA, Merritt MW (senior and corresponding author), “Integrating Social Justice Concerns into Economic Evaluation for Healthcare and Public Health: A Systematic Review,” Social Science & Medicine (2018): 198: 27-35
- Zwerling A, Dowdy DW, von Delft A, Taylor H, Merritt M (senior author), “Incorporating Social Justice and Stigma in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment,” International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (2017): 21(11): S69–S74 (Supplement: TB Stigma)