PROFILE

Andrew Peterson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at George Mason University. He is also an Affiliate Researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Memory Center. Previously, he was a Greenwall Faculty Scholar (2018-2021) and a Guest Researcher at the National Institutes of Health Department of Bioethics (2019). He was also a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar in the Rotman Institute of Philosophy and The Brain and Mind Institute at the University of Western Ontario, Canada (2013-2016). He is a recipient of the 2021 "Rising Star" Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

 

​Dr. Peterson’s research centers on bioethics and the philosophy of neuroscience, with specialization in ethical issues related to neurology and human consciousness. His work has been funded by The National Institute on Aging, the Greenwall Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholars program, and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. 

​

SELECTED MEDIA ESSAYS

Peterson A, Fyfe S, Kirkpatrick J. (2021). George Mason University if right to require Covid-19 vaccinations. Times-Dispatch Richmond. Published online Aug, 2021.

 

Fernandez Lynch H, Largent E, Peterson A. (2021). Alzheimer’s patients are desperate for treatment. But the FDA can’t throw out its standards. USA Today. Published online July, 2021.

 

Jones Cu, Mintz Ku, Peterson A. (2021). Covid-19 proved Americans with disabilities need Biden’s infrastructure plan. Lawmakers must not negotiate it away. Bioethics.net. Published online June, 2021.

 

Fyfe S, Peterson A. (2021). End the coronavirus lockdown in the D.C. jail. Washington Post. Published online March, 2021.

​

Peterson A, Largent E, Karlawish J. (2021). A monument can help Americans heal from the Covid-19 pandemic. STAT News. Published online Feb, 2021.

​

Peterson A, Weijer C, Largent E. (2020). COVID-19 vaccines are worthless if people aren't vaccinated. The Hill. Published online Dec, 2020.

​

Peterson A. (2020). How to decide who gets a Covid-19 vaccine first. CNN Opinion. Published online July, 2020. 

​

Peterson A, Buckwalter W. (2020). Rising Covid cases means Americans may face health care rationing. Here's how they view that. NBC News. Published online Nov, 2020.

​

Peterson A, Largent E, Karlawish J. (2020). Older adults deserve to vote too — here's the support they need. The Hill. Published online Oct, 2020. 

​

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Peterson A, Young M, Fins JJ. (2022) Ethics and the 2018 practice guideline on disorders of consciousness: A framework for responsible implementation. Neurology. (Forthcoming)

 

Karlawish J, Peterson A, Clapp J, Largent E.  (2022) A case of patient abandonment, or the abandonment of patients? American Journal of Bioethics. (Forthcoming)

 

Peterson A, Sisti D. (2022) Skip the trip? Five arguments on the use of non-hallucinogenic psychedelics in psychiatry. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. (Forthcoming)

 

Peterson A, Mintz K, Owen AM. (2022) Unlocking the voices of patients with severe brain injury. Neuroethics. Epub ahead of print Feb. 2022.

 

Peterson A, Largent E, Harkin K, Kleid M, Sites S, Karlawish (2022) Is there a difference between paradoxical lucidity and terminal lucidity? Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Epub ahead of print January, 2022.

 

Aas S, Peterson A, Wasserman D. (2021) What justifies the allocation of health care resources to patients with disorders of consciousness? Response to commentaries. American Journal of Bioethics-Neuroscience; 12(4):W1-W4.

 

Peterson A, Karlawish J, Largent E. (2021) Supported decision making for people at the margins of autonomy: Response to commentaries. American Journal of Bioethics; 22(1):W1-W4.

​

Largent E, Peterson A, Fernandez-Lynch H. (2021) FDA approval of drugs and the ethics of desperation. JAMA Internal Medicine; 181(12):1555-1556.

 

Ney D, Peterson A, Karlawish J. (2021) Ethical implications of paradoxical lucidity in people with dementia. J of American Geriatrics Society. Epub ahead of print Oct. 2021

 

Peterson A, Largent E, Harkin K, Sites S, Karlawish J. (2021) What is paradoxical lucidity? The answer starts with its definition. Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Epub ahead of print July, 2021.

 

Peterson A, Webster F, Munce S, Gonzalez L, Owen AM, Weijer C. (2021). How do families react to research evidence of covert consciousness following severe brain injury? BMC Medical Ethics. Epub ahead of print July, 2021. 

​

Peterson A, Aas S, Wasserman D. (2021). What justifies the allocation of health care resources to patients with disorders of consciousness. AJOB-Neuroscience 12(2-3):127-139.

 

Largent EA, Peterson A. (2021) Supported decision making in the U.S. and abroad. Journal of Health Care Law and Policy 23(2):271-296. 

​

Buckwalter W, Peterson A. (2020). Public attitudes toward resource allocation in the Covid-19 pandemic; PloS ONE. 15(11): e0240651.

​

Peterson A, Karlawish J Largent EA. (2020). Supported decision making for people at the margins of autonomy. AJOB; Published online ahead of print, 2020 Dec 29.

 

Goldstein CE, Peterson A. (2020). Is it unethical to publish data from Chinese transplant research? JME; Forthcoming.

 

Peterson A, Largent EA, Karlawish J. (2020). Ethics of reallocating ventilators in the Covid-19 pandemic. BMJ; 369: m1828.

​

Peterson A, Owen AM, Weijer C. (2020). Is it ethical to forcibly withdraw ventilators from nursing home patients for reallocation to Covid-19 patients? Journal of Medical Ethics Blog. Published online April 27, 2020. 

 

Peterson A, Owen AM, Karlawish J. (2020) Translating the discovery of covert consciousness into clinical practice. JAMA Neurology; 77(5):541-542

​

Peterson A. (2020) How will families react to evidence of covert consciousness in brain-injured patients? Neuroethics. Published online January 4, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-019-09428-1

​

Peterson A, Kostick K, O'Brien K, Blumenthal-Barby J. (2019) Seeing minds in patients with disorders of consciousness. Brain Injury. Published online December. 27, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02699052.2019.1706000

​

Tung J, Speechley KN, Gofton T, Gonzalez-Lara L, Graham M, Naci L, Peterson A, Owen AM, Weijer C. (2019) Toward the assessment of quality of life in patients with disorders of consciousness. Quality of Life Research. Published online Dec. 14, 2019. DOI: doi: 10.1007/s11136-019-02390-8

​

Peterson A, Owen AM. (2019) Confronting the grey zone after severe brain injury. Emerging Topics in The Life Sciences; 3(6): 707-711.

​

Peterson A, Tagliazzuchi E, Weijer C. (2019) The ethics of psychedelic research in disorders of consciousness. Neuroscience of Consciousness. Published online October 9, 2019. doi.org/10.1093/nc/niz013

​

Peterson A, Owen AM, Karlawish J. (2019) Alive inside. Bioethics. Published online October 2, 2019. doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12678

​

Peterson A. (2019) A critical analysis of Joseph Fins' mosaic decision making. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics; 28(4): 725-736. [With accompanying response from Fins]

 

Peterson A, Aas S, Wasserman D. (2018) What justifies the prioritization of healthcare resources for patients with severe brain injury? (Abstract). AJOB-Neuroscience; 10(1): W1.

 

Peterson A (2018) Should neuroscience inform judgments of decision-making capacity? Neuroethics. 12(2): 133-151.

 

Peterson A, Bayne T. (2018) Post-comatose disorders of consciousness. In Gennaro R.J. (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Consciousness; Routledge: New York. 

 

Peterson A, Bayne T. (2017) A taxonomy for disorders of consciousness that takes consciousness seriously. AJOB-Neuroscience. 8(3): 153-55.

 

Peterson A, Kirkpatrick J, Boehm-Davis DA. (2017) Developing ethical, legal, and policy analyses relevant to the use of machine learning algorithms in national security. (White paper submitted to the National Academies Decadal Survey on behavioral sciences and national security). [4 pages]

 

Cairncross M, Peterson A, Lazosky A, Gofton T, Weijer C. (2016) Assessing decision-making capacity in patients with communication impairments. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics; 25: 691-699.

 

Peterson A. (2016) Consilience, clinical validation, and global disorders of consciousness. Neuroscience of Consciousness. 1(1). DOI: doi:10.1093/nc/niw011 

 

Weijer C, Bruni T, Gofton T, Young B, Norton L, Peterson A, Owen AM. (2016) Ethical considerations in functional magnetic resonance imaging research in acutely comatose patients. Brain; 139(pt1): 292-299.

 

Graham M, Weijer C, Cruse D, Fernández-Espejo D, Gofton T, Gonzalez-Lara L, Lazosky A, Naci L, Norton L, Peterson A, Speechley K, Young B, Owen AM. (2015) An ethics of welfare for patients diagnosed as vegetative with covert awareness. AJOB-Neuroscience; 6(2): 31-41.

 

Peterson A, Cruse D, Naci L, Weijer C, Owen AM. (2015) Risk, diagnostic error, and the clinical science of consciousness. NeuroImage:Clinical; 7: 588-597.

 

Graham M, Weijer C, Peterson A, Naci L, Cruse D, Fernández-Espejo D, Owen AM. (2015) Acknowledging awareness: informing families of individual research results for patients in vegetative states. Journal of Medical Ethics; 41(7): 534-8.

 

Peterson A, Norton L, Naci L, Owen AM, Weijer C. (2014) Toward a science of brain death. American Journal of Bioethics; 14(8): 29-31.

 

Peterson A, Thome J, Frewen P, Lanius R. (2014) Resting-state neuroimaging studies: A new way of identifying the differences and similarities among the anxiety disorders? Canadian Journal of Psychiatry; 59(6): 295-300.

 

Weijer C, Peterson A, Webster F, Graham M, Cruse D, Fernández-Espejo D, Gofton T, Gonzalez-Lara L, Lazosky A, Naci L, Owen AM. (2014) Ethics of neuroimaging after serious brain injury. BMC Medical Ethics; 15(41). doi: 10.1186/1472-6939-15-41. [13 pages]

 

Peterson A, Naci L, Weijer C, Cruse D, Fernández-Espejo D, Graham M, Owen AM. (2013) Assessing decision-making capacity in the behaviorally non-responsive patient with residual covert awareness. AJOB-Neuroscience; 4(4): 3-14.

 

Peterson A, Naci L, Weijer C, Owen AM. (2013) A principled argument, but not a practical one. AJOB-Neuroscience; 4(1): 52-53.

 

Peterson A. (2011) The relevance of scientific practice to the problem of coordination. Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science; 5(1): 44-57.

​

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

Peterson A, Wendler D, Karlawish J, Largent L. Supported decision making at a crossroads. (Panel presentation) American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. Virtual meeting. October, 2021.

 

Peterson A, Clapp J, Harkins K, Largent E, Stites S, Karlawish J. (Oral presentation). What is paradoxical lucidity? Gerentological Society of America. Phoenix, USA. November, 2021.

 

Peterson A. Ethics of psychedelic research involving patients with disorders of consciousness. (Invited oral presentation). American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, Neuroethics Working Group. Virtual meeting. October, 2021.

 

Largent E, Clapp J, Stites S, Peterson A, Abera M, Harkins K, Karlawish J. Preliminary results from the COVID caregiving project. (Oral presentation). Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. Amsterdam, Netherlands. July, 2021.

 

Peterson A. How do caregivers react to evidence of covert consciousness? (Invited oral presentation). Consciousness and Coma Lab, Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital. Boston, USA. May, 2021. 

​

Peterson A. How do caregivers react to research evidence of covert consciousness? (Invited oral presentation). Working papers in ethics and moral psychology series. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. New York, USA. April, 2021.

 

Peterson A. How do caregivers react to research evidence of covert consciousness? (Invited oral presentation). Kennedy Institute of Ethics/Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics Colloquium, Georgetown. Washington, D.C. March, 2021.

 

Peterson A. How do biomarkers of neuropsychiatric diseases impact statutory definitions of disability? National Academies workshop on biomarkers and disability for the U.S. Social Security Administration. (Invited panel presentation). National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Washington, D.C. July, 2020.

​

Peterson A, Kostick K, Blumenthal-Barby J. Seeing minds in disorders of consciousness patients. (Oral presentation). American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. Pittsburgh, USA. October, 2019.

​

Peterson A. Alive Inside: The search for consciousness following severe brain injury. (Invited oral presentation). Neurosurgery Grand Rounds, Baylor College of Medicine. Houston, USA. September, 2019.

​

Peterson A. Are they really conscious? Responding to criticism of the mental imagery task. (Invited oral presentation). Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine. Houston, USA. September, 2019.

​

Largent E, Peterson A, Karlawish J.Supported decision making for peopleat the margins of autonomy. (Invited panel presentation). Charm City Colloquium on Bioethics and Health Law. Baltimore, USA. September, 2019. 

​

Peterson A, Heilig C. Are the levels of consciousness? An instrumentalist reply. (Poster presentation). Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. London, Canada. June, 2019. 

​

Peterson A. Erring on the side of consciousness. (Invited symposium presentation; Chair: Fins). Neuroethics Network Meeting, ICM Brain and Spine Institute. Paris, France. June, 2019.

​​

Peterson A, Kostick K, Blumenthal-Barby J. Seeing minds in disorders of consciousness patients. (Invited oral presentation). Trinity College Dublin Disorders of Consciousness Workshop. Dublin, Ireland. April, 2019. 

​

Peterson A. Alive inside: The ethics of neuroimaging after severe brain injury. (Invited oral presentation). Penn Program in Precision Medicine for the Brain. University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, USA. March, 2019. 

​

Eckenwiler L, Dade A, DiTeresi C, Peterson A. A novel model for transforming RCR: Responsible connected conduct of research. (Oral presentation). Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. Baltimore, USA. March, 2019.

 

DiTeresi C, Eckenwiler L, Peterson A. Practically-oriented frameworks for promoting responsible conduct of research. (Oral presentation). Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. Baltimore, USA. March, 2019.      

​

Peterson A. Should neuroscience inform judgments of decision-making capacity? (Invited oral presentation). NIH 1st Year Bioethics Fellows Seminar. Bethesda, USA. December, 2018. 

​​

​Peterson A, Aas S, Wasserman D. What justifies the prioritization of healthcare resources for patients with severe brain injury? (Poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. San Diego, USA. November, 2018. AJOB-Neuroscience top abstract award.

​

Peterson A. A critical analysis of mosaic decision making. (Invited symposium presentation; Chairs: Fins and Naccache). Neuroethics Network Meeting, ICM Brain and Spine Institute. Paris, France. June, 2018.

 

Peterson A. Ethics, machine learning, and disorders of consciousness. (Invited oral presentation). Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Ashburn, USA. March, 2018.

​

DeFranco J, Peterson A. An analysis of disparities in methods for determining brain death across U.S. medical centers. (Poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. Washington D.C., USA. November, 2017.

​​​

Downes P, Peterson A. Ethical issues in pharmacological research in disorders of consciousness. (Poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. Washington DC, USA. November, 2017. AJOB-Neuroscience top abstract award.

​

Kluck M, Peterson A. Ethical considerations for fMRI research involving human fetuses in utero. (Poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. Washington D.C., USA. November, 2017. AJOB-Neuroscience top abstract award.

​

Kirkpatrick J, Barrett E, Peterson A. Coming Home: Dialogues on the moral, psychological, and spiritual impacts of war. (Poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. Washington D.C., USA. November, 2017.

​

Neely C, Peterson A. A bayesian framework for disorders of consciousness research. (Poster presentation). Society for Neuroscience. Washington DC, USA. November, 2017.

​​​

Peterson A. Finding consciousness following catastrophic brain injury. (Invited oral presentation). Center for Neural Informatics, Neural Structures, and Neural Plasticity. Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study. Washington D.C., USA. November, 2016

​

Stephensen M, Peterson A, Weijer C. Are organ donors really dead, or just dead enough? A critique of the dead donor rule. (Oral presentation). Canadian Brioethics Society. Toronto, Canada. May, 2016.

​

Peterson A. Unlocking their voices: The ethics of neuroimaging consciousness. (Invited oral presentation). Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, George Mason University. Washington D.C., USA. March, 2016

 

Peterson A, Naci L, Goering S, Silvers A, Weijer C. Reading the minds of severely brain injured persons. (Invited symposium). American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division. Sponsored by the Society for Philosophy and Disability. San Francisco, USA. March, 2016.

 

Peterson A, Weijer C, Owen AM. Clinical validation studies and the science of consciousness. (Poster presentation). Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. Paris, France. July, 2015.

 

Peterson A, Cruse D, Fernandez-Espejo D, Bruni T, Weijer C, Owen AM. A framework for comparing neuroimaging techniques used to assess disorders of consciousness. (Poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. Washington D.C., USA. November, 2014.

 

Weijer C, Bruni T, Gofton T, Norton L, Peterson A, Young GB, Owen AM. Ethical issues in fMRI research in patients with severe brain injuries in the intensive care unit. (Poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. Washington D.C., November, 2014.

 

Graham M, Weijer C, Cruse D, Fernández-Espejo D, Gonzalez-Lara L, Peterson A, Speechley K, Owen AM. Evaluating subjective well-being in patients diagnosed as vegetative with covert awareness. (Poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. Washington D.C., USA. November, 2014.

 

Weijer C, Graham M, Peterson A, Naci L, Cruse D, Fernandez-Espejo D, Gonzalez-Lara L, Owen AM. Acknowledging awareness: Informing families of individual research results for patients in the vegetative state. (Oral presentation). Canadian Bioethics Society. Vancouver, Canada. May, 2014.

        

Graham M, Weijer C, Peterson A, Naci L, Fernández-Espejo D, Cruse D, Lazosky A, Gonzalez-Lara L, Owen AM. Communication with patients diagnosed with disorders of consciousness, and the moral significance of sentience. (Oral presentation). Canadian Bioethics Society. Vancouver, Canada. May, 2014.

        

Peterson A, Naci L, Weijer C, Benmordecai D, Cruse D, Fernandez-Espejo D, Gofton T, Gonzalez-Lara L, Lazosky A, Speechley K, Young B, Owen AM. Is is possible to assess decision making capacity in the disorders of consciousness patient? (Oral presentation). Canadian Bioethics Society. Vancouver, Canada. May, 2014.

        

Weijer C, Peterson A, Naci L, Graham M, Cruse D, Fernández-Espejo D, Lazosky A, Owen AM. Why discussion of end-of-life decisions through brain computer interfaces starts the ethical debate off on the wrong foot. (Oral presentation). Brain Matters 4. Vancouver, Canada. March, 2014.

 

Graham M , Weijer C,  Peterson A, Naci L, Fernández-Espejo D, Cruse D, Lazosky A, Gonzalez-Lara L, Owen AM. Communication with patients diagnosed with disorders of consciousness, and the moral significance of sentience. (Oral presentation). Brain Matters 4. Vancouver, Canada. March, 2014.

 

Peterson A, Naci L, Weijer C, Bor D, Young B, Owen AM. Ethical implications of detecting awareness in the disorders of consciousness patient. (Plenary symposium). Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. San Diego, USA. July, 2013.

​

Peterson A, Cruse D, Naci L, Fernández-Espejo D, Graham M, Lazosky A, Weijer C, Owen AM. Ethical challenges in deriving the clinical utility of EEG for diagnosis of the vegetative state. (Poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. San Diego, USA. November, 2013.

 

Graham M, Weijer C, Peterson A, Naci L, Fernández-Espejo D, Cruse D, Lazosky A, Gonzalez-Lara L, Owen AM. Communication with patients diagnosed with disorders of consciousness, and the moral significance of sentience. (Poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. San Diego, USA. November, 2013.

 

Weijer C, Peterson A, Naci L, Graham M, Cruse D, Fernández-Espejo D, Lazosky A, Owen AM. Why discussion of end-of-life decisions through brain computer interfaces starts the ethical debate off on the wrong foot. (Oral and poster presentation). International Neuroethics Society. San Diego, USA. November, 2013. AJOB-Neuroscience top abstract award

  

Peterson A. Assessing decision-making capacity in disorders of consciousness. (Oral presentation). Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. San Diego, USA. July, 2013.

  

Peterson A, Weijer C, Naci L, Cruse D, Fernández-Espejo D, Shriver A, Graham M, Owen AM. Are you in pain? Attending to the sentience of the disorder of consciousness patient. (Poster presentation). The Canadian Association of Neuroscience. Toronto, Canada. May, 2013.

  

Peterson A, Naci L, Weijer C, Cruse D, Fernández-Espejo D, Graham M, Owen AM. Ethical implications of detecting awareness in VS. (Oral presentation). Brain Matters 3. Cleveland, USA. October, 2012. Early Scholar Award

 

Graham M, Peterson A, Naci L, Weijer C, Cruse D, Fernández-Espejo D, Owen AM. Ethical implications of disclosing research results to patients’ families in disorder of consciousness research. (Oral presentation). Brain Matters 3. Cleveland, USA. October, 2012.

 

Peterson A. Ethical implications of detecting covert awareness in disorders of consciousness. (Oral presentation) The Hastings Centre Visiting Scholar Lecture. New York, USA. June, 2012.

​