After graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a PhD in criminal law, Sarah has since built her research and teaching interests around healthcare law and ethics. She has a particular interest in ethics at the end of life, advance care planning, decision-making and disputes over withdrawal of treatment. She has served 2 terms on the North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee based at NHS Grampian and also served on the Clinical Ethics Committee for NHS Grampian.
Research Interests
Healthcare law and ethics:
End-of-life ethics
Dispute resolution in end of life care
Advance care planning
Advance Decisions; advance directives
Autonomy, capacity and decision-making
Withdrawal of treatment
Assisted dying
Teaching and Learning
Sarah currently teaches honours modules in healthcare law and ethics. She also supervises undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations on a range of topics, and runs Masterclasses for PhD students on a wide variety of issues relevant to studying at doctoral level in the legal discipline. She also supervises at doctoral level. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, and Advanced HE, and has held numerous external examiner posts at other universities.
Scopus Author ID
57038323600
PhD Supervision Availability
Yes
PhD Topics
The legal and/or ethical perspectives on the regulation of assisted dying.
Autonomy and capacity in medical decision-making.
The ethical and legal dimensions of advance care planning.
Legal and/or ethical perspectives in adult or paediatric end of life care.
Foetal rights and foetal personhood.
Theories of responsibility for action in criminal law.
Inchoate crimes; impossible attempts.
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Reduce inequality within and among countries
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
