Amy McGuire

Amy McGuire, J.D., Ph.D., serves as the Leon Jaworski Professor of Biomedical Ethics and Director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. Her research program focuses on ethical and policy issues related to emerging technologies and innovative therapeutics, with particular expertise in genetics and genomics, neuropsychology, and the clinical integration of novel neurological devices and psychedelics. She leads the Ethical Legal Implication of PSychedelics in Society (ELIPSIS) program and receives research funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Ortus Foundation.

Dr. McGuire's research spans multiple specialized ethics domains including Psychedelics, Neuroethics, Public Health Ethics, AstroEthics, AI Ethics, Genomic Ethics and Policy, and Genomic Data Sharing. Her work addresses critical questions about the responsible translation of emerging technologies into clinical practice, with particular attention to privacy, consent, data governance, and equity considerations. She has developed conceptual models for data release options in genomic research and conducted extensive work on informed consent frameworks for genomic sequencing.

Analysis of Dr. McGuire's recent publications reveals a strong focus on ethical frameworks for emerging technologies, particularly in psychedelic research and genomic medicine. Her work spans multiple disciplines including bioethics, genomics, neuroscience, and public health, with an emphasis on developing practical policy solutions to complex ethical challenges. She frequently collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to address issues related to data sharing, risk communication, and the societal implications of novel medical interventions.

• Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholars Program
• BCM Basic & Clinical Collaborative Research Project Award
• ARCO Foundation Young Teach-Investigator Award

Dr. McGuire has led numerous significant research projects including the Texas KidsCanSeq Study, BabySeq Project, MedSeq Project, and the PeopleSeq Consortium. Her work has been supported by major funding sources including the National Human Genome Research Institute (R01HG004333), National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH114854), and the Gillson Longenbaugh Foundation. She frequently collaborates with institutions including Johns Hopkins University through the Baylor-Johns Hopkins Center for Mendelian Genetics.

As Director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Dr. McGuire oversees a comprehensive research program addressing ethical challenges across multiple domains of medicine and science. Her ELIPSIS program specifically focuses on ethical and policy issues related to psychedelic research and clinical applications. She also leads work on neuroethics of adaptive deep brain stimulation systems, genomic data governance, and ethical frameworks for AI in healthcare.