Debra DeBruin, PhD

Director, Director of Graduate Studies, and Associate Professor

Expertise: Public Health Ethics | Ethics of Health Policy | Health Equity | Public Health Preparedness and Crisis Response

Debra DeBruin
[email protected]

United States

Dr. Debra DeBruin primarily works on issues in public health ethics and the ethics of health policy, with a focus on concerns about social justice and health equity. Much of this work addresses issues of gender, race, and socioeconomic disadvantage. She also has done substantial work on public health emergency planning, with an emphasis on the importance of equity in this perilous context. She co-directed the Minnesota Pandemic Ethics Project and led the project to develop ethics guidance for Crisis Standards of Care in Minnesota; both of these projects were conducted under contract with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). During the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-led the Minnesota COVID Ethics Collaborative, a statewide advisory group that provided input to MDH on ethical issues in pandemic response.

In addition to teaching philosophy and bioethics, Dr. DeBruin has served as a health policy fellow for Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) in the Democratic office of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee of the United States Senate. She has also worked as a consultant to the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine and the National Bioethics Advisory Commission on issues relating to the ethics of research.

In addition to her scholarly work in bioethics, Dr. DeBruin has a strong record of administrative leadership for the Center for Bioethics. Over the years, she has served as Director of Graduate Studies, Director of Education, Associate Director, and Director/Interim Director. 

Dr. DeBruin received her BA from Carleton College magna cum laude with distinction in philosophy and her PhD in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. She completed a Greenwall Postdoctoral Fellowship in Bioethics and Health Policy at Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health and Georgetown University.

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Selected Publications

State and National Advisory Reports

  • Leider, J., DeBruin, D., & Lim, S. (2024, September). Ethical and Operational Strategies for Scarce Resource Allocation. In JAMA Health Forum (Vol. 5, No. 9, pp. e242940-e242940). American Medical Association. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2823387
  • DeBruin D, Leider JP, Reynolds N. Ethical guidance for crisis standards of care: planning and response guidelines. An annex to  the Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH’s) Crisis Standards of Care Plan. Deliverable to MDH for Minnesota Crisis Standards of Care Ethics contract. December 2016. https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/ep/surge/crisis/framework.pdf
  • DeBruin D, & Marshall M. F. Ethical issues in pandemic influenza planning concerning pregnant and postpartum women. (2013). Obstetrics and Gynecology 121(5), 1138-1143. Published as American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Committee Opinion, ACOG Ethics Committee. Invited primary author: ACOG’s policy is to omit authors’ names from publications, but to acknowledge authorship by letter. 
  • DeBruin, D., Marshall, M. F., Parilla, E., Liaschenko, J., Leider, J., Brunnquell, D., Garrett, J., & Vawter, D. (2010). Implementing ethical frameworks for rationing scarce health resources in Minnesota during a severe influenza pandemic (Report of the Minnesota Pandemic Ethics Project, deliverable to the Minnesota Department of Health, p. 121). Minnesota Department of Health. https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/ep/surge/crisis/implement.pdf
  • Vawter, D., Garrett, J., Gervais, K., Prehn, A., DeBruin, D., Tauer, C., Parilla, E., Liaschenko, J., & Marshall, M. (2010). For the good of us all: Ethically rationing health resources in Minnesota in a severe influenza pandemic (Report of the Minnesota Pandemic Ethics Project, deliverable to the Minnesota Department of Health, p. 183). Minnesota Department of Health. https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/ep/surge/crisis/ethics.pdf
  • DeBruin, D. (1994). Justice and The Inclusion of Women in Clinical Studies: A Conceptual Framework. In A. Mastroianni, R. Faden, & D. Federman (Eds.), Women and health research: Ethical and legal issues of including women in clinical studies (Vol. 2, pp. 127-150). National Academy Press. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236575/

Journal Articles and Book Chapters 

  • DeBruin, D. A. (2024). Fetal Personhood and the Boundless Responsibilities of Pregnant Persons. The American Journal of Bioethics, 24(2), 33–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2024.2296778
  • Leider J., DeBruin D., & Lim S. (2024) Ethical and Operational Strategies for Scarce Resource Allocation. JAMA Health Forum, 5(9), e242940. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.2940
  • Riggan, K. A., Kesler, S., DeBruin, D., Wolf, S. M., Leider, J. P., Sederstrom, N., ...  DeMartino, E. S. (2024). Minnesota Hospitals’ Plans for Implementing Statewide Guidance on Allocation of Scarce Critical Care Resources During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes, 8(6), 537-547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2024.09.003
  • Riggan, K. A., Nguyen, N. V., Ennis, J. S., DeBruin, D. A., Sharp, R. R., Tilburt, J. C., Wolf, S. M., & DeMartino, E. S. (2024). Behind the Scenes: Facilitators and Barriers to Developing State Scarce Resource Allocation Plans for the COVID-19 Pandemic. CHEST, 166(3), 561-571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2024.04.006
  • Eyal, N., Wynia, M. K., Harter, T. D., DeBruin, D., & Eberl, J. T. (2023). Why Dropping Most Covid-19 Vaccine Mandates is Now Ethical. Health Affairs Forefront. https://doi.org/10.1377/forefront.20231206.51079
  • Leider, J. P., Lim, S., DeBruin, D., Waterman, A. T., Smith, B., Ghimire, U., Huhtala, H., Zirnhelt, Z., Lynfield, R., & Hick, J. L. (2023). Using a web platform for equitable distribution of COVID-19 monoclonal antibodies: A case study in resource allocation. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1226935.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1226935
  • DeBruin, D.A. (2022). Addressing pandemic disparities: Equity and neutral conceptions of justice. In: Boylan, M. (Eds.) Ethical public health policy within pandemics. The International Library of Bioethics, Vol. 95. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99692-5_10
  • Laar A., DeBruin D., Ofori-Asenso R., Laar M.E., Redman B., & Caplan A. (2021). Rationing health and social goods during pandemics: Guidance for Ghanaian decision makers. Clinical Ethics, 16(3), 165-170.
  • Wu, J. T., DeBruin, D. A., Wolf, S. M., Klemond, T., & DeMartino, E. S. (2021). Addressing a Missing Link in Emergency Preparedness: New Insights on the Ethics of Care in Contingency Conditions from the Minnesota COVID Ethics Collaborative. The American Journal of Bioethics, 21(8), 17–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2021.1939809
  • DeBruin, D., & Leider, J. P. (2020). COVID-19: The Shift From Clinical to Public Health Ethics. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 26(4), 306-309. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000001204
  • Lim, S., DeBruin, D. A., Leider, J. P., Sederstrom, N., Lynfield, R., Baker, J. V., ... Wolf, S. M. (2020). Developing an ethics framework for allocating remdesivir in the COVID-19 pandemic. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 95, No. 9, pp. 1946-1954). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.06.016
  • Marshall, M. F., Taylor, J., & DeBruin, D. (2020). Ferguson v. City of Charleston Redux: Motivated Reasoning and Coercive Interventions in Pregnancy. Pediatrics, 146(Suppl 1), S86–S92. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-0818Q https://doi.org/10.1177/1477750920977095
  • DeBruin, D. A., & Leider, J. P. (2019). Ethics and the public health system. In J. Kahn, N. Kass, & A. Mastroianni (Eds.), Oxford handbook of public health ethics (pp. 1-17). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190245191.001.0001
  • DeBruin, D. A., & Marshall, M. F. (2019). Policing women to protect fetuses: Coercive interventions during pregnancy. In W. Teays (Ed.), Analyzing violence against women (pp. 95-111). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05989-7_8
  • Laar, A., & DeBruin, D. (2017). Key populations and human rights in the context of HIV services rendition in Ghana. BMC international health and human rights, 17(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12914-017-0129-z
  • Leider, J. P., DeBruin, D., Reynolds, N., Koch, A., & Seaberg, J. (2017). Ethical Guidance for Disaster Response, Specifically Around Crisis Standards of Care: A systematic Review. American journal of public health, 107(9), e1–e9. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303882
  • Cargill, S. S., DeBruin, D., Eder, M., Heitman, E., Kaberry, J. M., McCormick, J. B., Opp, J., Sharp, R., Strelnick, A. H., Winkler, S. J., Yarborough, M., & Anderson, E. E. (2016). Community-Engaged Research Ethics Review: Exploring Flexibility in Federal Regulations. IRB: Ethics & Human Research, 38(3), 11–19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45046392
  • DeBruin, D. A. (2016). Fetal Risk, Fetal Purity, and the Perils Posed by Pregnant Women. The American Journal of Bioethics, 16(2), 12–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2015.1120815
  • DeBruin, D., Liaschenko, J., Lyerly, A. D., & Marshall, M. F. (2016). Chasing virtue, enforcing virtue: Social justice and conceptions of risk in pregnancy. In M. Buchbinder, M. Rivkin-Fish, & R. L. Walker (Eds.), Understanding health inequalities and justice: New conversations across the disciplines (pp. 160-184). University of North Carolina Press. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12665
  • Laar, A., & DeBruin, D. (2015). Ethics-sensitivity of the Ghana national integrated strategic response plan for pandemic influenza. BMC Medical Ethics, 16(30). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-015-0025-9
  • Laar, A. K., DeBruin, D. A., & Craddock, S. (2015). Partner notification in the context of HIV: An interest-analysis. AIDS Research and Therapy, 12(15).https://doi.org/10.1186/s12981-015-0057-8
  • DeBruin, D., Liaschenko, J., & Marshall, M. F. (2012). Social Justice in Pandemic Preparedness. American journal of public health, 102(4), 586–591. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300483
  • DeBruin, D. A., Liaschenko, J., & Fisher, A. (2011). How Clinical Trials Really Work: Rethinking Research Ethics. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, 21(2), 121-39. https://doi.org/10.1353/ken.2011.0008
  • Garrett, J. E., Vawter, D. E., Gervais, K. G., Prehn, A. W., DeBruin, D. A., Livingston, F., Morley, A. M., Liaschenko, J., & Lynfield, R. (2011). The Minnesota Pandemic Ethics Project: Sequenced, Robust Public Engagement Processes. Journal of Participatory Medicine. 3, e6. https://participatorymedicine.org/journal/evidence/research/2011/01/19/the-minnesota-pandemic-ethics-project-sequenced-robust-public-engagement-processes/
  • Marshall, M. F, DeBruin, D. & Liaschenko, J. (2011). The Two-Patient Framework for Research During Pregnancy: A Critique and a Better Way Forward. American Journal of Bioethics, 11(5), 66-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2011.566032
  • Vawter, D. E., Garrett, J. E., Gervais, K. G., Prehn, A. W., & DeBruin, D. A. (2011). Attending to Social Vulnerability When Rationing Pandemic Resources. The Journal of Clinical Ethics, 22(1), 42–53. https://doi.org/10.1086/JCE201121106
  • Vawter, D. E., Garrett, J. E., Gervais, K. G., Prehn, A. W., & DeBruin, D. A. (2010). Dueling Ethical Frameworks for Allocating Health Resources. The American Journal of Bioethics, 10(4), 54–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161003632989
  • DeBruin D., Liaschenko J., & Marshall M. F. (2010). Commentary: risky business. Hastings Center Report, 40(4), 5-6.

Selected Presentations