8:00 – 8:15
Improving Healthcare for People with Disabilities: Bringing Bioethics and Disability Studies into Dialogue
Lisa S. Parker, PhD
Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote Professor of Bioethics
Director, Center for Bioethics & Health Law
Director, Master of Arts in Bioethics Program
University of Pittsburgh
Lisa Parker, a philosopher, is the Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote Professor of Bioethics and Director of the Center for Bioethics & Health Law. She directs the University’s Master of Arts in Bioethics Program and a new graduate Certificate in Bioethics. (Inquiries about these programs may be directed to bioethics@pitt.edu.) She also leads the University’s Research, Ethics, and Society Initiative, fostering campus-wide discussion of research ethics and the social implications of empirical research, scholarship, and technology development.
8:15 – 9:15
Justice for All? Bioethics in Medical Prognostication, Ableism, and the Disability Paradox 
Amanda K. Booher, PhD
Bioethicist, Summa Health
Amanda K. Booher is a bioethicist at Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio. She did her bioethics training at Case Western Reserve University and Metrohealth Hospital, also in Ohio. Prior to that, she was an English professor specializing in the rhetorical, theoretical, and medical relationships of bodies and prosthetics, with publications in journals including Disability Studies Quarterly and the International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics.
9:30 – 10:45
Ethical, Legal, and Social Challenges for Neurodivergent Adults in our Communities: Shifting to a Supported Engagement Model
Nanette Elster, JD, MPH
Associate Professor, Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Nanette Elster is an associate professor at the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. In the graduate program, she teaches a variety of courses in areas related to law, pediatrics, oral health, genetics, and professionalism. For many years, she has served as the chair of the Special Committee on Bioethics and the Law for the American Bar Association and was the Manager of Ethics Outreach for the Council on Ethics, Bylaws and Judicial Affairs of the American Dental Association. She is the legal consultant to the Committee on Bioethics for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD
Professor, Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Kayhan Parsi is Professor of Bioethics & Health Policy at the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics, Loyola University Chicago, and is also the Graduate Program Director of the online master’s and doctoral programs in bioethics. He has published in a variety of areas and has interests in clinical ethics, medical ethics education, professionalism and professional ethics, global health and justice, media and bioethics, the history of medicine and bioethics, and autism and neurodiversity. In 2019, he was elected as president-elect of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, the major professional organization for bioethicists and medical humanities scholars in the United States and began a two-year term in October 2021.
Drs. Elster and Parsi are the co-editors of Transitioning to Adulthood with Autism: Ethical, Legal and Social Issues (Springer, 2022).
10:45 – noon
Panel: Medical Decision Making on the Spectrum
David Kappel, MD
Deputy State Medical Director for Trauma
WV Office of Emergency Medical Services
David Kappel is a retired reconstructive plastic surgeon, who practiced in Wheeling, WV from 1976 to 2009. During his tenure at Wheeling Hospital, he led both the Clinical Ethics Consultation service and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing team. He is a Clinical Professor of Surgery at West Virginia University and also serves as the Deputy Medical Director for the West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services overseeing the State Trauma System since 2008. A former President of the Western Trauma Association, he also received the Meritorious Achievement Award from The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. With numerous publications in reconstructive plastic surgery, communication in trauma systems, and bioethics, his current areas of research involve clinical ethics, pediatric abuse, vulnerable populations, and performance improvement in a rural trauma system.
Joann Migyanka, DEd
Professor Emeritus of Communication Disorders, Special Education, and Disability Services
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
JoAnn Migyanka has been a Learning Support, Life Skills Support and Autistic Support teacher and has taught special education classes from preschool through middle school, with certification in Early Childhood Education, Special Education, and Curriculum and Instruction Supervision. Nationally recognized for her work with children on the autism spectrum. She served as IUP’s Coordinator of the Undergraduate Special Education PreK-8/7-12 with Reading Specialist Program and Co-director of the Labyrinth Center serving IUP students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Andrew Nelson, EdD
Senior Director Autism Response Team at Autism Speaks
Autism Community Consultants
Andrew Nelson is the Senior Director of the Autism Response Team at Autism Speaks, where he and his team provide information, referral, and navigation support for the autism community across the nation. As a Certified Case Manager, he has worked locally and globally to help expand and enhance autistic leadership, train others in self-advocacy principles, and teach theatre-based approaches in the autism community. He founded Autism Community Consultants, a diverse team working with emergency medical professionals, educators, and communities to build better systems of care and support for autistic individuals and families.
Valerie Satkoske, PhD, MSW
VP of Mission Effectiveness, Spiritual Care, & Ethics / UPMC Mercy
VP of Ethics UPMC
Valerie Satkoske serves as Vice President for Ethics for UPMC Mercy Hospital, UPMC Presbyterian University/Shadyside Hospitals, and the UPMC health system. She previously served as Director of Ethics at Wheeling Hospital in Wheeling, West Virginia, and Assistant Professor of Medical Education at West Virginia University. She continues to serve as an ethics consultant for the West Virginia Rural Emergency Trauma Institute. Her research interests include medical decision making involving patients with cognitive difference, ethical issues in rural trauma care and in substance use disorder treatment, rural health disparities, ethical management of delirium, and end-of-life decision making. She directs the clinical practicum for the University of Pittsburgh Master of Arts in Bioethics Program.
12:30 – 1:30
A Crosswalk of Common Ethical Challenges in Substance Use Disorder Treatment & Disability Ethics
Todd Harvey, MSN, RN, CARN
Programmatic Nurse Specialist, Addiction Medicine
UPMC Mercy
Todd Harvey is the Programmatic Nurse Specialist for Addiction Medicine at UPMC Mercy. He is a Certified Addictions Registered Nurse, with more than five years specializing in Addiction Medicine. His nursing career began on UPMC McKeesport's Addiction Medicine unit, where he advanced from the bedside into nursing leadership. He completed his MSN in Nursing Education at Capella University and his BSN through the University of Pittsburgh’s Accelerated 2nd Degree program. Prior to nursing, Todd worked for 10 years in HIV prevention public health programs at state, federal, and international levels.
1:45 – 2:45
Barriers to Effective Healthcare for Disabled People: Signs of Progress in Medicine and Law
Mary Crossley, JD
Interim Dean, Professor of Law, John A. Murray Faculty Scholar
University of Pittsburgh
Currently serving as Interim Dean of the University’s School of Law, Mary Crossley began at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2005 and previously served as Dean from 2005-2012. In 2013, she was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Public Health Law Scholar in Residence, and in 2014-15 she served as a Faculty Mentor for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Public Health Law Education Faculty Fellowship Program. In 2023, she received the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics Jay Healey Teaching Award. In addition to her many law review articles, she is the author of Embodied Injustice: Race, Disability, and Health (Cambridge, 2022).
2:45 – 3:30
Disability Related Accommodations in Healthcare
Chatón T. Turner, JD
Senior Associate Counsel and Vice President Risk Management/Disabilities Services
UPMC
Chatón Turner, who received her JD from the University of South Carolina, provides strategic and legal support to UPMC Physician Services Division, the Center for Fertility, and UPMC hospitals and affiliates. Her counsel focuses on fraud and abuse analysis, employment law, patient services, electronic health records, and medical staff issues. She provides policy review and training for UPMC personnel, and addresses patient safety and regulatory compliance issues.