Faculty Bios

Dr. Rosenthal received all of her academic training at the University of Toronto, and she received her doctorate in bioethics from the University of Toronto's Joint Centre for Bioethics.

Dr. Rosenthal is Professor and Founding Director, University of Kentucky Program for Bioethics, Departments of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Behavioral Science. She is Chair of the University of Kentucky Medical Center's Hospital Ethics Committee and directs its clinical ethics consultation service. She is also faculty at the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Kentucky; in this capacity, she also directs the Research Ethics Consultation Service, also known as "benchside ethics" consults.

Dr. Rosenthal's research interests focus on endocrine ethics, reproductive ethics, and clinical ethics, including her novel multimedia work on the topic, moral distress (www.moraldistressproject.org). Dr. Rosenthal is Past Chair of the American Thyroid Association's Ethics Advisory Committee, and also a member of The Endocrine Society, the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, and the Association of Bioethics Program Directors. She is the author of over 50 publications; has served as the bioethicist on numerous clinical practice guidelines, and has delivered over 150 scholarly presentations nationally and internationally.

For additional information about Dr. Rosenthal, please visit her website.

Dr. Buchanan is an Assistant Professor with the UK Program for Bioethics. She received her PhD in Philosophy in 2017 from the University of Kentucky and completed a Bioethics Internship at UK prior to joining the Program for Bioethics as a Post-Doctoral Scholar.

Dr. Buchanan wrote her dissertation on personhood and autonomy in 19th century German philosophy, and has presented numerous papers on topics in the history of philosophy. She has taught a wide variety of upper level university courses, including business ethics, feminist theory, political and social philosophy, existential philosophy, issues in death and dying, and the history of modern philosophy, as well as many introductory-level philosophy courses. In the hospital setting, Dr. Buchanan has given presentations on ethical issues covering a wide range of topics, including outpatient cancer care and hospital care for refugee patients.

Dr. Buchanan is an active member of the Clinical Ethics Consultation Service; she rounds throughout the hospital and serves on the hospital ethics committee; and she leads ethics education conferences for multiple units. Dr. Buchanan’s research interests include reproductive ethics, definitions of personhood and capacity, research and laboratory ethics, and ethics of surrogate decision-making.