Anita Ho, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor
Institute for Health & Aging
School of Nursing

anita.ho@ucsf.edu

Anita Ho (PhD, MPH) is a bioethicist and health services researcher with a unique combined academic training and experience in philosophy, clinical/organizational ethics, public health, and business.

Show full bio (240 words) Hide full bio

(She is also a classically trained pianist, with a Master degree in piano performance, trying to decide what she will do when she grows up!) Anita is currently an Associate Professor at the UCSF Bioethics Program and a Clinical Associate Professor at the Centre for Applied Ethics at the University of British Columbia. She is also the Vice President of Ethics (Northern California Division) for CommonSpirit Health. Between 2014 and 2017, Anita was Associate Professor and the Director of Undergraduate Ethics Education at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics at the National University of Singapore School of Medicine.

An international scholar and author of more than 90 publications, Anita is an elected fellow of The Hastings Center. Her current research focuses on ethical dimensions of utilizing innovative and artificial intelligence technologies in health care, research and trial design ethics, supportive decision making, and end-of-life care decisions. She is particularly interested in systemic and social justice issues arising in health care. Her broader research areas include trust and decision making in clinical and research medicine, family-centered care, health-care resource allocation and disparity, organizational and system ethics in health care, cross-cultural and global health ethics, professional-patient relationship, ethics education for health professionals, disability and pain experiences, and various concepts of autonomy. Her book, Live Like Nobody is Watching: Relational Autonomy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Health Monitoring, was published by Oxford University Press in May 2023.

Education & Training

Show all (6) Hide

  • MA Philosophy Dalhousie University
  • BComm Marketing Saint Mary's University
  • BA Philosophy Saint Mary's University
  • PhD Philosophy University of Alberta
  • MMus Piano Performance University of Alberta
  • MPH Health Policy/Management University of California, Berkeley

Interests

Show all (9) Hide

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Bioethics
  • Data Ethics
  • End-of-Life Care
  • Clinical Ethics
  • Research Ethics
  • Palliative Care
  • Health Services Research
  • Cross-Cultural Care

Websites

Show all (1) Hide

Grants and Projects

Show all (13) Hide

  • Clinical Providers' Perspectives on Ethical Implications of Utilizing Mortality Prediction Algorithms in End-of-Life Care, St. Paul Foundation, 2024-2026
  • Confidential Automatic Monitoring, Examination, and Recognition of disease Activity (CAMERA): Application to Parkinson and Alzheimer Diseases, Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council/Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, 2019-2023
  • Navigating End-of-Life Care After MAiD: Palliative and Hospice Care Providers' Experience, St. Paul's Foundation, 2018-2022
  • Promoting Ethical Design and Data Integrity for Cluster Trials, BC SUPPORT UNIT, 2019-2022
  • Data Science and Health: Mapping an Educational Trajectory and Building a Collaborative Framework, University of British Columbia, 2021
  • Reasonable Trust: Fostering Humanities Methods in Public Engagement with Science and Technology, University of British Columbia, 2019-2020
  • Virtual Innovative health Strategies through Interdisciplinary co-Operative Network (VISION), Health Research BC, 2019-2020
  • An Ethical Approach to Routine Tragic Choices: Radiotherapy Allocation in Rwanda, Greenwall Foundation, 2018-2020
  • The Ethics of Pain Research, Management, and Policy, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2018-2019
  • Supportive Decision Making for Diverse Populations, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2012-2017
  • Relational Autonomy and Decision Making: Improving Clinical Trial Enrolment in Cancer Care, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2011-2013
  • Trust, Trustworthiness, and Relational Autonomy in Medicine, Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), 2008-2012
  • Harnessing Indivenous Botanical Knowledge for Pest Control and Improved Nutrition on Smallholder Farms in Rwanda, Canadian International Development Agency, 2011

Publications (59)

Top publication keywords:
Terminal CarePersonal AutonomyHospice CareSocial ResponsibilityHuman Rights AbusesMoralsLeadershipRefugeesSuicide, AssistedFamilyInformed ConsentDecision MakingEthics, MedicalBioethicsHospices

Show all (54 more) Hide