I began studying philosophy at the University of Auckland in New Zealand in 1995, completing a BA (Philosophy & Politics), a BA (Hons) in philosophy, a Diploma of professional ethics, a Masters by thesis (entitled: God the Utilitarian? The Ethics of Theodicy) and finally completed my PhD in philosophy in 2008 (entitled: A Luck Egalitarian Account of Distributive Justice in Health Care).

From 2000-2004 I tutored in the Philosophy department at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, teaching on a wide range of subjects, from metaphysics, to Chinese philosophy to applied ethics. In 2004 I moved to lecture in the School of History, Philosophy and Politics, Massey University, New Zealand. At Massey I taught political theory, applied ethics & ethical theory. In 2005 I moved to the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland where I primarily taught professional, research and medical ethics to a wide range of students in courses ranging from biomedical sciences to dietetics to optometry. In 2008 I moved to the Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele where I directed the MA in Research Ethics and the Knowledge Transfer programme. In 2011 I joined the Department of Philosophy at Birmingham.

My teaching interests like my research interests are diverse but contain some key themes. I've taught in many areas in the past, ranging from environmental ethics & applied ethics to to philosophy of religion and ancient Chinese philosophy. Here at Birmingham in 2011/12 I am teaching:

• Global Bioethics
• Philosophy of Religion
• Virtue Ethics

I presently supervise 6 PhD students in areas ranging from ethical issues in antibiotic resistance to the ethics of having children but being unable to care for them.

I'm happy to supervise across the fields of applied ethics and political philosophy – however my particular interests are in research ethics, distributive justice, responsibility for health outcomes and decision making in situations of uncertainty.

Because I am interested in issues at the intersection of several areas of philosophy and applied ethics it is difficult to summarise my research interests succinctly. However I am particularly interested in medical ethics with a focus on where ideas from political philosophy can be bought to bear on problems within medical ethics. In particular I believe that an excessive focus has been placed on clinical ethics in bioethics, and this has obscured important background issues such as organisational and structural issues. As such I think that work in political philosophy can usefully inform approaches to a variety of issues in medical ethics. As such my research interests are broad, but common themes run throughout.

Ethics of Regulation
I'm broadly interested in ethical issues to do with regulation of human activities, particularly where these have broader implications for ethical theory and/or political philosophy. I've focused on three main areas within this broader topic thus far, Research Ethics, Ethics of New Technologies and Public Health Ethics. I'm particular interested where these topics raise broader underlying conceptual issues such as should we view research ethics committees as normative truth seeking devices, or instead as liberal consensus seeking devices? A continuing theme of my work in this area is ethical decision making in situations of fundamental uncertainty.

Political Philosophy
I am broadly interested in issues in political philosophy, particularly where these intersect with issues in medical ethics. My thesis concentrated on one of these areas, distributive justice in health care. I'm particular interested here in questions in the health care context since I think this provides a useful testing ground for claims in political philosophy.

Another area of interest is public health ethics, this interest grew out of my thesis, but also because it is a place where medical ethics and political philosophy meet. A particular interest here is in the role responsibility might or ought to play in health care decision making.

I'm heavily engaged with the UK and international medical ethics and philosophical academic community. I organise three networks of the International Association for Bioethics:

• International Network for Ethical Issues in Resource Allocation (INEIRA)
• International Network for Philosophy and Bioethics (INPAB)
• Research Ethics Network (REN)

Each of these groups maintains a mailing list, a group blog and organises sessions at the IAB biennial conference. As part of these networks I created and maintain the Philosophy and Bioethics Universe , a self updating compilation of the table of contents from all major ethics, bioethics, political theory and general philosophy journals: Philosophy and Bioethics Universe

I am the joint editor of the journal Research Ethics, the European Editor in Chief for the Research Ethics Forum Springer book series, the Associate Editor for global inequalities and technologies for Studies in Ethics, Law and Technology, the book review editor for Public Health Ethics and one of the editors of the Journal of Medical Ethics Blog.

I am also involved with the Research Ethics community in the UK both in the NHS and in the University sector. I am an external/lay member of the Liverpool Hope University Research Ethics Committee. Previously I have sat on research ethics committees at the University of Ulster, Keele University, a NHS committee in Northern Ireland & in North Staffordshire and on the University of Auckland research ethics committee. I served as a council member on the Association for Research Ethics Committees (AREC) Council for four years and still sit on the subcommittee for University based research ethics committees.

Books

• Hughes, J. Hunter, D. Sheehan, M. Wilkinson, S. Wrigley, A. European Textbook on Ethics in Research. European Commission, Directorate-General for Research Science, Economy and Society, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2010.
• Hughes, J. Hunter, D. Sheehan, M. Wilkinson, S. Wrigley, A. Syllabus on Ethics in Research. European Commission, Directorate-General for Research Science, Economy and Society, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2010.

Journal Articles

• Hunter, D. ‘Why even inappropriate parental consent might be enough to justify minimal risk pediatric research without clinical benefit’ American Journal of Bioethics, forthcoming.
• Hunter, D. 'Are New Genetic Technologies unlucky for Luck Egalitarianism?' Ethical Perspectives, forthcoming, March 2012.
• Hunter, D. 'A hands-on guide on obtaining research ethics approval ' Postgraduate Medical Journal, (2011);87:509-513.
• Hunter, D. Oultram, S. 'The ethical & policy implications of Rogue Medical Tourism' Global Social Policy, (2010) 10, 297-299.
• Hunter, D. Wilson, J. 'Response to open peer commentaries on 'Research Exceptionalism'' American Journal of Bioethics, (2010);10:8:W4-6.
• Wilson, J. Hunter, D. 'Research Exceptionalism' American Journal of Bioethics Target Article, (2010);10:8:45-54.
• Hunter D. ' Is there a case for a distinction between Ethics & Policy?' American Journal of Bioethics Open Peer Commentary, (2010);10:6:24-25.
• Hunter, D. ‘Teaching Skills and Bioethics, the use of the Community of Inquiry' Monash Bioethics Review. (2008);27:1:33-41.
• Hunter, D. ‘Tower of Babel rebuilt: The ESRC research ethics framework and research ethics review at UK universities.’ Journal of Medical Ethics. (2008);34:815-820.
• Hunter, D. Oultram, S. 'The Challenge of Sperm Ships: The need for global regulation of medical technology' Journal of Medical Ethics. (2008);34:552-556.
• Elliott, L. Hunter, D. ‘The experiences of Ethics Committee Members: Contradictions between Individuals and Committees’ Journal of Medical Ethics. (2008);34:489-494.
• Hunter, D. 'Efficiency and the Proposed Reforms to the NHS Research Ethics System' Journal of Medical Ethics. (2007);33:651-654.
• Hunter, D. ‘The roles of research ethics committees: implications for membership.’ Research Ethics Review. (2007) Vol 3, No 1, 24-26.
• Hunter, D. 'Proportional Ethical Review and the Identification of Ethical Issues' Journal of Medical Ethics. (2007);33:241-245.
• Hunter, D. 'Am I my Brother's Gatekeeper? Professional Ethics & the Prioritisation of Health Care' Journal of Medical Ethics. (2007);33:522-526.
• Hunter, D. Pierscionek, B. 'Children, Gillick Competency and Consent for Research' Journal of Medical Ethics. (2007);33:659-662.
• Hunter, D. 'An alternative model for research ethics review at UK universities' Research Ethics Review. (2006) Vol 2, No 2, 47-51.
• Hunter, D. 'Placebos, and moral perils for participants' Research Ethics Review. (2006) Vol 2, No 2, 71-72.

Book Chapters

• Hunter, D. 'Forward Thinking: A Teaching Project' Pp 309-316. in Clements, Belinda (Ed) Probing the Boundaries: Environmental Justice and Global Citizenship, The Inter-Disciplinary Press. ISBN: 978-1-904710-38-7 (2006)
• Hunter, D. ‘Bad Science equals poor not bad ethics’ p.61-70 in Jennifer Gunning & Søren Holm, (eds.) Ethics, Law & Society (volume 3), Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Company (December 2007)
• Hunter, D. Dawson, A. 'Is there a need for global health ethics? Pros and cons' Global Health and Global Health Ethics edited by Gillian Brock & Soloman Benatar, Cambridge University Press, (2011) 77 -88.
• Hunter, D & Wilson, J. briefing paper on Ethical Issues in Hyperexpensive Treatments and the Prioritisation of R&D Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2011)
• Hunter, D. ‘Why even inappropriate parental consent might be enough to justify minimal risk pediatric research without clinical benefit’ , forthcoming.
• Hunter, D. 'Are New Genetic Technologies unlucky for Luck Egalitarianism?' , forthcoming, March 2012.
• Hunter, D. 'A hands-on guide on obtaining research ethics approval ' , (2011);87:509-513.
• Hunter, D. Oultram, S. 'The ethical & policy implications of Rogue Medical Tourism' , (2010) 10, 297-299.
• Hunter, D. Wilson, J. 'Response to open peer commentaries on 'Research Exceptionalism'' , (2010);10:8:W4-6.
• Wilson, J. Hunter, D. 'Research Exceptionalism' Target Article, (2010);10:8:45-54.
• Hunter D. ' Is there a case for a distinction between Ethics & Policy?' Open Peer Commentary, (2010);10:6:24-25.
• Hunter, D. ‘Teaching Skills and Bioethics, the use of the Community of Inquiry' . (2008);27:1:33-41.
• Hunter, D. ‘Tower of Babel rebuilt: The ESRC research ethics framework and research ethics review at UK universities.’ . (2008);34:815-820.
• Hunter, D. Oultram, S. 'The Challenge of Sperm Ships: The need for global regulation of medical technology' . (2008);34:552-556.
• Elliott, L. Hunter, D. ‘The experiences of Ethics Committee Members: Contradictions between Individuals and Committees’ . (2008);34:489-494.
• Hunter, D. 'Efficiency and the Proposed Reforms to the NHS Research Ethics System' . (2007);33:651-654.
• Hunter, D. ‘The roles of research ethics committees: implications for membership.’ . (2007) Vol 3, No 1, 24-26.
• Hunter, D. 'Proportional Ethical Review and the Identification of Ethical Issues' . (2007);33:241-245.
• Hunter, D. 'Am I my Brother's Gatekeeper? Professional Ethics & the Prioritisation of Health Care' . (2007);33:522-526.
• Hunter, D. Pierscionek, B. 'Children, Gillick Competency and Consent for Research' . (2007);33:659-662.
• Hunter, D. 'An alternative model for research ethics review at UK universities' . (2006) Vol 2, No 2, 47-51.
• Hunter, D. 'Placebos, and moral perils for participants' . (2006) Vol 2, No 2, 71-72.
• Hunter, D. 'Forward Thinking: A Teaching Project' Pp 309-316. in Clements, Belinda (Ed) , The Inter-Disciplinary Press. ISBN: 978-1-904710-38-7 (2006)
• Hunter, D. ‘Bad Science equals poor not bad ethics’ p.61-70 in Jennifer Gunning & Søren Holm, (eds.) (volume 3), Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Company (December 2007)
• Hunter, D. Dawson, A. 'Is there a need for global health ethics? Pros and cons' edited by Gillian Brock & Soloman Benatar, Cambridge University Press, (2011) 77 -88.
• Hunter, D & Wilson, J. briefing paper on Ethical Issues in Hyperexpensive Treatments and the Prioritisation of R&D Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2011)