Celia Fisher

Celia B. Fisher, PhD is the Marie Ward Doty University Endowed Chair in Ethics and Professor of Psychology at Fordham University. She serves as Director of the Fordham University Center for Ethics Education and the HIV/Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Institute. Dr. Fisher leads the Human Development and Social Justice Lab and is actively involved in research ethics, health disparities, and social justice issues affecting vulnerable populations.

Dr. Fisher's research focuses on bioethics, research ethics, racial justice, HIV prevention, addiction and drug abuse, health disparities, and the social determinants of health. Her work particularly emphasizes stigmatized and underserved populations, including adolescents, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with intellectual disabilities. She has conducted federally funded research on assessing and enhancing the consent capacity of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and has written extensively on social justice issues regarding the ethical role of psychologists.

Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on health disparities, vaccine hesitancy, racial discrimination, and the impact of social media on vulnerable populations. Dr. Fisher's work often employs mixed-methods approaches and addresses critical ethical issues in research involving marginalized communities. She has been particularly active in examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and health disparities across different demographic groups.

Dr. Fisher has received numerous prestigious awards for her contributions to ethics education and research:

• American Psychological Association's Award for Outstanding Contributions to Ethics Education (2017)
• Health Improvement Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Human Research Protection (2011)
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2012)
• Presidential Citation, American Psychological Association (2003)
• Distinguished Alumni Award, Graduate Faculty, New School University (2004)
• Fellow, Society for the Study of Ethnic Minority Issues, Division 45, American Psychological Association (2006)

Dr. Fisher has been principal investigator on multiple major research grants from NIDA, NICHD, NIAID, NIAAA, NSF, and NIMHD. She currently directs the NIDA-funded Fordham University HIV/Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Training Institute, which provides early career investigators with research ethics training. She has mentored numerous students and early career researchers through various training programs and has served on national advisory boards related to research ethics and human subjects protections.

Dr. Fisher leads the Human Development and Social Justice Lab at Fordham University, which focuses on the intersection of developmental science and social justice. The lab applies developmental theory and research methods to examine experiences that promote equity and wellbeing among under-researched populations, with a particular focus on stigma, identity, and health disparities among underserved adolescent groups including ethnic minorities, LGBT individuals, and those with mental health and substance-use conditions.