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, PhD.
[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 and Guidance Documents

Journal Articles and Book Chapters 

  • Riggan KA, Kesler S, DeBruin D, Wolf SM, Leider JP, Sederstrom N, Dichter J, DeMartino ES. 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. 2024; 8(6): 537-547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2024.09.003.
  • Dichter JR, Brown D, Zamorano C, Cohen J, Miller EA, Niccum DE, LeClaire M, De Jong CB, Deanna Diebold D, Lyons J, Reilkoff R, Erickson HL, Martinelli J, Fischer JA, Mairose K, Kallestad J, Chell C, Shadiow A, Stoen S, Hick JL, Petersen-Kroeber C, Seaberg J, McLachlan E, Waterman AT, James WY, MacDonell S, Risser J, Klemond T, DeMartino ES, Wu J, DeBruin D, Wolf SM, Sederstrom NO, Baum KD, Greenlee K, Strike H, Kettler PA, Boehland A, Goodman KA, Maslonka KK, Wolf JM, Schoenecker J, Kesler S. The Minnesota Critical Care Working Group 1: Monitoring and coordinating statewide critical care surge response in the COVID-19 pandemic, March 2020 through July 1, 2021. CHEST. Available online November 30, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2024.10.057
  • Kesler SM, De Jong CB, Chell C, DeBruin D, Erickson HL, Goodman KA, James W, Kallestad J, Klemond T, McLachlan E, Petersen-Kroeber C, Risser J, DeMartino ES, Waterman AT, Wolf SM, Wu J, Zamorano C, Baum K, Brown D, Cohen J, Diebold D, Fischer JA, Greenlee J, Hick J, Kettler P, LeClaire M, Lyons J, MacDonell S, Mairose K, Boehland A, Martinelli J, Miller EA, Niccum DE, Reilkoff R, Seaberg J, Sederstrom NO, Shadiow A, Stoen S, Strike H, Maslonka KK, Wolf JM, Schoenecker J, Dichter JR. The Minnesota Critical Care Working Group 2: Crisis conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic, July 2021 through March 2022. CHEST. Available online November 28, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2024.11.017.
  • Leider J, DeBruin D, Lim S. Ethical and Operational Strategies for Scarce Resource Allocation. JAMA Health Forum. 2024;5(9):e242940. doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.2940
  • Riggan KA, Nguyen NV, Ennis JS, DeBruin DA, Sharp RR, Tilburt JC, Wolf SM, DeMartino ES. Behind the Scenes: Facilitators and Barriers to Developing State Scarce Resource Allocation Plans for the COVID-19 Pandemic. CHEST. 2024; 166(3): 561-571. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012369224005415
  • DeBruin, D. A. Fetal Personhood and the Boundless Responsibilities of Pregnant Persons. The American Journal of Bioethics. 2024; 24(2): 33–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2024.2296778
  • Eyal N, Wynia MK, Harter TD, DeBruin D, Eberl JT. Why Dropping Most COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates is Now Ethical. Health Affairs Forefront, December 7, 2023. DOI: 10.1377/forefront.20231206.51079
  • Leider JP, Lim S, DeBruin D, Waterman AT, Smith B, Ghimire U, Huhtala H, Zirnhelt Z, Lynfield R, Hick JL. Using a web platform for equitable distribution of COVID-19 monoclonal antibodies: a case study in resource allocation. Frontiers in Public Health. 2023 November 27; 11. DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1226935
  • DeBruin, D.A. Addressing Pandemic Disparities: Equity and Neutral Conceptions of Justice. In: Boylan, M. (eds) Ethical Public Health Policy Within Pandemics. The International Library of Bioethics. 2022; vol 95. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99692-5_10
  • Laar A, DeBruin D, Ofori-Asenso R, Laar ME, Redman B, Caplan A. Rationing health and social goods during pandemics: Guidance for Ghanaian decision makers. Clinical Ethics. 2021;16(3):165-170. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477750920977095
  • Wu JT, DeBruin DA, Wolf SM, Klemond T, DeMartino ES. Addressing a Missing Link in Emergency Preparedness: New Insights on the Ethics of Care in Contingency Conditions from the Minnesota COVID Ethics Collaborative. American Journal of Bioethics, 2021; 21(8), 17-19. DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2021.1939809.
  • Leider J, Wrigley-Field E, DeBruin D, Sederstrom N. Now is the Time to Explicitly Emphasize Equity in Vaccine Access. JPHMP Journal of Public Health Management and Practice Direct. 2021 March. Available from: https://jphmpdirect.com/2021/03/19/now-is-the-time-to-explicitly-emphasize-equity-in-vaccine-access/.
  • DeBruin D. Speed Should Not Overrun Ethics in Vaccine Rollout: The People Who are Harder to Reach are the People Most at Risk. Minneapolis, MN: Star Tribune; 2021 January 29. Available from: https://www.startribune.com/editorial-counterpoint-speed-should-not-overrun-ethics-in-vaccine-rollout/600016774/.
  • DeBruin DA, Marshall MF. Coercive Interventions in Pregnancy: Law and Ethics. The Journal of Health Care Law and Policy. 2021 January 17; 23(2):187. Available from: https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/jhclp/vol23/iss2/3.
  • Lim S, DeBruin DA, Leider JP, Sederstrom N, Lynfield R, Baker JV, Kline S, Kesler S, Rizza S, Wu J, Sharp RR, Wolf SM. Developing an Ethics Framework for Allocating Remdesivir in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Mayo Clin Proc. 2020 Sep;95(9):1946-1954. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7305893.
  • Marshall MF, Taylor J, DeBruin D. Ferguson v. City of Charleston Redux: Motivated Reasoning and Coercive Interventions in Pregnancy. Pediatrics. 2020 Aug;146(Suppl 1):S86-S92. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-0818Q. PubMed PMID: 32737239.
  • DeBruin D, Leider J. COVID-19: The Shift from Clinical to Public Health Ethics. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2020 Jul/Aug;26(4):306-309. PubMed PMID: 32433384.