معرفی
Dr. Nicola Smithers is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Law at the University of Northampton. She holds a PhD from the University of Northampton, focusing on the lived experiences of parents involved in decisions to withhold or withdraw treatment from critically ill babies, completed in 2019. She also earned an LLM in International Business Law and a BA in Law with Criminology from the same institution. Her academic career began in 2006 after working as a solicitor.
Her research interests center on medical ethics, particularly the ethical and legal dimensions of withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from critically ill infants. She also explores parental and sibling bereavement experiences, medical negligence, and infertility-related legal issues. Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to education and healthcare equity.
As a dedicated educator, Smithers leads the 3-year LLB program and teaches modules including Tort Law, Consumer Law, Family Law, and Medical Law. She also contributes to specialized courses on international organized crime.
Smithers has been active in academic and professional circles, including presenting at multiple conferences on topics such as parental decision-making in critical care and ethical research methodologies. She is a member of CHELSIG, a multidisciplinary group exploring pediatric healthcare ethics and law, affiliated with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Ethics and Law Advisory Committee. Her current projects include extending research on children’s experiences of sibling or parental loss.
