Amber’s doctoral thesis examined legal and ethical frameworks that regulate decision-making about children and explored literature on understanding and interpreting parents’ motivations for their child’s participation in medical research. The thesis analysed the extent to which ethics of care theory can improve understanding and interpretation of parents’ motivations for research participation, with focus on children in the context of their caring relationships and responsibilities within relationships.
Amber has conducted research on partnerships between health and law to better identify the needs of children and families, and understanding social determinants of health in different regions. As a Visiting Fellow at New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), Amber shadowed attorneys working in public and private hospital law clinics to inform this research. Amber was introduced to NYLAG as a Visiting Scholar at Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and the Hastings Center.
Amber has previously received a small funding award from the University of Liverpool International Network Fund for a project on child health and wellbeing in a developing country. Amber has also organised a series of interdisciplinary seminars on the regulation of decision-making about children’s health, funded by the University of Liverpool Global Health Funding.
More recently, Amber is conducting research on the use of do-it-yourself artificial pancreas systems (DIY APS) for children and young people living with type one diabetes, looking specifically at parental responsibility and best interests decision-making.