Departmental Affiliations
Maria Merritt, PhD, focuses on the ethics of international public health research and practice.
Contact Info
Research Interests
Bioethics; Climate Change and Health; Social Justice; Global Health; International Research Ethics; Public Health Ethics; Moral Philosophy; Moral Psychology; Wonder
Experiences & Accomplishments
Maria Merritt is a core faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Within public health ethics, she focuses on the ethics of international public health research and practice. The two main lines of inquiry in her funded research portfolio have been: how to consider social justice in the economic evaluation of health policy options; and how to delineate researchers’ and sponsors’ ethical responsibilities regarding community members’ health needs in public health intervention research. A third, complementary line of inquiry is related to moral psychology—the study of feeling, thought, and action in morally significant contexts—and involves nurturing the capacity for wonder in educational settings for health professionals. Her current research agenda focuses on issues of public health ethics in the search for climate solutions.
Honors & Awards
Hastings Center Fellow, elected December 2020
National leadership training program sponsored by Greenwall Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics, 2018-19
Student Assembly Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Commitment to Student Success, 2017
Principal Investigator, NIH award number 1R01AI114458-01A1, 2015-19, "Assessing Social Justice in Economic Evaluation to Scale up Novel MDR-TB Regimens" (award issued by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Recognition for teaching excellence as principal instructor of JHSPH courses
Ethics in Global Health Practice
604.603.86 – online (no longer offered after 2019-2020): 2nd term 2018-2019
Ethics of Public Health Practice in Developing Countries: 221.616.01 (classroom version, last offered 4th term 2016-17) -- 4th term 2016-17; 2015-16; 2014-15; 2012-13; and 2011-12; 221.616.81 (online version) -- 4th term 2017-18; 2016-17
Co-Investigator, NIH award number 1R01AI085147-01A1, 2010-14, "Ancillary Care in Community-Based Research: Deciding What to Do" (PI Holly A. Taylor; award issued by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Greenwall Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics career development award, 2009-12, “Researchers’ Obligations in Community-Based Research: Resolving Dilemmas of Care”
Faculty Innovation Fund, 2007-08, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, "Ancillary Care in Public Health Intervention Research in Resource-Limited Settings: Researchers' Practices and Decision-Making"(Co-PI Holly A. Taylor)
Faculty Fellow, Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics, Harvard University, 2005-06
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Clinical Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, 2000-02
Rhodes Scholar, Oxford University, 1987-90
Select Publications
Selected peer-reviewed publications from the last 5 years:
Bennett S and Merritt MW (corresponding author), Implications of the Fair Processes for Financing UHC Report for Development Assistance: Reflections and an Application of the Decision-Making Principles to PEPFAR. Health Economics, Policy and Law (2025) Published online 14 January 2025. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133124000276
Black GF, Jamrozik E, Khan W, Peralta S, Havenga B, Merritt MW (co-senior author), and Kelley M, Making the Case for Community Involvement in Research on Climate and Health: Opportunities and Lessons. Frontiers in Climate (2024) 6:1456417. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2024.1456417
Krubiner CB, Tugendhaft A, DiStefano MJ, Barsdorf NW, Merritt MW, Goldstein SJ, Mosam A, Potgieter S, Hofman KJ, Faden RR, The Value of Explicit, Deliberative, and Context-Specified Ethics Analysis for Health Technology Assessment: Evidence From a Novel Approach Piloted in South Africa, Value in Health Regional Issues (2023): 34: 23-30. doi: 10.1016/j.vhri.2022.10.003
This paper won the Value in Health Regional Issues 2024 Paper of the Year Award.
Geller G, Shin S, Goldberg H, Merritt MW (senior author), Capacity for Wonder Among Medical Students: Assessment and Educational Implications, Medical Teacher (2023): 45: 68-72: DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2022.2099260
Taylor HA, Dowdy DW, Searle AR, Stennett AL, Dukhanin V, Zwerling AA, Merritt MW (senior author), Disadvantage and the Experience of Treatment for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB), SSM – Qualitative Research in Health (2022): 2: 100042: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2022.100042