Dr. Patrick Derr

Professor Derr earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and did post-doctoral fellowships at UCLA (History of Science) and Johns Hopkins University (Philosophy of Science). He is currently Professor of Philosophy, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, and President of the Faculty at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Environment, Technology & Development. His research on ethical and public policy issues has been supported by grants from the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and a number of private foundations including the Horatio Storer Foundation. He is the author or coauthor of five books and dozens of scholarly articles and reports.  

Much of Derr's work is directed toward the explanation and analysis of ethical issues, particularly issues of justice or equity. He has directed his more recent research towards medical ethics and health policy, while his current writing focuses on ethical issues related to the conduct of biomedical research.  These writings focus on the biomedical research done on human subjects in less developed countries, on questions of justice related to national energy policy, and on the application of emerging veterinary reproductive technologies to human beings.

Some examples of his publications: “Case Studies in Environmental Ethics” (2003),“Effective Environmental Regulation: Learning from Poland's Experience” (2000), "Homosexuality and the Global AIDS Pandemic, Homosexuality and American Life” (ed. Christopher Wolfe, Specne Publishing Co., 1998)