| Post: | Lecturer in Law |
| Location: | Friston Building FR-212 |
| Email: | Ruth.Wilkinson@sussex.ac.uk |
| Telephone numbers | |
| Internal: | 2617 |
| UK: | (01273) 872617 |
| International: | +44 1273 872617 |
Biography
PhD, MA (Merit), LLB
Ruth read Law at King's College, London (2001-4) studying Medical Law, Tax Law, Legal History, Public International Law and Jurisprudence alongside the seven core subjects. Her MA, also from King's College, London (2004-5) is in Medical Law and Ethics. Her MA thesis considered the legal and ethical implications of the use of human tissue.
After completing her MA, Ruth worked at the Law Commission of England and Wales as a Research Assistant to the Statute Law Revision Team (2005-7). Her work formed part of the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2009. The most notable projects she worked on were Indian railways, turnpike roads, the East India Company and county gaols.
Ruth went to Manchester for her doctoral studies (2006-9) where her research looked at predictive genetic testing and insurance law. She was supervised by John Birds, John Harris and Tuija Takala. Whilst at Manchester, Ruth worked closely with members of the Centre for Social Ethics and Policy, and the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation. Her PhD Was examined by Professor Jonathan Montgomery and Kirsty Keywood. It was awarded in November 2009.
Ruth joined Sussex Law School on 1 September 2009.
Role
Lecturer in Law
Research
Ruth is interested in medical law and ethics generally, and particularly in the interaction between commercial law and medical law on a national and international basis. She has a specific interest in genetic technologies and their implications for law. Her PhD focuses on the insurance law aspects of a right to decide to undergo predictive genetic testing for serious illnesses.
She is also interested in research ethics, having sat on and chaired a busy London NHS Research Ethics Committee for a number of years. She is interested in the regulation and ethical aspects of research involving vulnerable groups, such as children and incompetent adults.
Teaching
Equity and Trusts
Medical Law
Frameworks of English Law
Selected publications
2010
Unjustified Discrimination: Is the moratorium on the use of genetic test results by insurers a contradiction in terms? in Health Care Analysis, Awaiting Publication
When is my genetic information your business? Biological, emotional and financial claims to knowledge in Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Awaiting Publication
2009
Book review of J. Snyder and C. Gauthier. Evidence-based Medical Ethics: Cases for Practice-based Learning. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 2008 in Public Health Ethics Volume 2 pp. 117-118
Nurses research and the law in competent adults (with Sheelagh McGuinness) in British Journal of Nursing Volume 18 pp. 559-560
Organ transplantation, organ retention and post-mortem examinations (with Lorraine Corfield, Ingrid Granne and William Latimer-Sayer) in The ABC of Medical Law Wiley Blackwell pp. 44-49 ISBN 978-1-4051-7628-6
Research (with Lorraine Corfield, Ingrid Granne and William Latimer-Sayer) in The ABC of Medical Law Wiley Blackwell pp. 38-43 ISBN 978-1-4051-7628-6
The Single Equality Bill: A Missed Opportunity to Legislate on Genetic Discrimination? in Studies in Ethics, Law and Technology Volume 3 pp. 3
2008
Moral and legal reasons for altruism in the case of brainstem biopsy in diffuse glioma (with John Harris) in British Journal of Neurosurgery Volume 22 pp. 617-618
2005
Reviewing research with mentally incapacitated adults: What RECs need to consider under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in Research Ethics Review Volume 1 pp. 127-131