I am the Director of the Institute for Bioethics and Health Humanities, the Inaugural Chair of the Department of Bioethics and Health Humanities, and the Harris L. Kempner Chair in the Humanities in Medicine Professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Trained in philosophy, I approach topics in medicine from a feminist and queer perspective. I specialize in reproductive ethics, especially, abortion, assisted reproductive technologies, fertility preservation, male contraception, and queer reproduction. I have published in leading journals in medicine, science, bioethics, and feminist theory and am the coeditor of four books on reproductive ethics.
I am the President-Elect of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities and an Elected Board Member of the International Network on Feminist Approaches to Bioethics. I also serve on the Advisory Board for the Male Contraception Initiative and Alliance for Fertility Preservation. I have been interviewed by premier national and international news organizations including National Public Radio, The New Yorker, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC recognized my research as engendering a better future for women, naming me as one of the 100 “inspiring and influential” Women of 2019.
I can be reached at lisacampoengelstein@gmail.com
Below is more information about my main research projects and you can find all of my publications, talks, and media coverage on the corresponding pages.
Reproductive Ethics
Male Contraception and Men’s Reproductive Health
Check out my recent co-edited book Seminal: Sperm, Health, and Politics where experts from across the social sciences, humanities, law, and medicine offer a kaleidoscopic view of the relationship between sperm, health, and the intersecting politics of gender, race, and reproduction.
One main area of ongoing research focuses on the ethical and public health need to develop long-acting reversible contraceptives for cismen. I analyze how gender norms have led to the disparity in contraceptive options between women and men and argue that new male contraceptives would unburden women from bearing most of the responsibility for contraception, enhance men’s reproductive autonomy and responsibility, decrease worldwide unmet contraceptive need, and advance gender equality. In addition to developing new male contraceptives, one strategy we can employ now is to expand the ACA to cover male contraceptive methods. My analysis of mainstream media suggests the public would welcome new male contraceptives.
A related area of research is on how overlooking men’s reproductive health harms women. For example, the lack of insurance coverage for paternal genetic testing means that pregnant women must undergo more invasive and expensive testing that not only has more negative side effects for them, but also for the fetus. Another project examines how current deficiencies in clinical practice relating to male infertility results in disproportionate burdens for women, especially in cases of male factor infertility. The public’s lack of knowledge about how men’s characteristics and behaviors can affect sperm quality means that women are usually solely blamed for preconception and fetal harm.
Fertility Preservation and Other Assisted Reproductive Technologies
Another ongoing research project centers on the social, ethical, and legal considerations regarding fertility preservation for adults, adolescents, and children from different populations including cancer patients, individuals with disorders (differences) of sex development, transgender individuals, and women concerned about age-related infertility.
My work arguing that insurance companies should cover fertility preservation for cancer patients has been used to buttress policy changes within institutions, states, and medical professional societies (e.g. American Medical Association). In November 2019, I gave the keynote talk at the Oncofertility Consortium Conference on the ethics of fertility preservation for pediatric patients. In December 2025, I was a plenary speaker at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium® discussing ethical issues in the care of young patients with patient cancer.
My work in this area has included analyzing how laws shape and limit new reproductive advancements. For instance, colleagues and I have asserted that activated, unfertilized eggs known as parthenotes should not be subsumed under bans against embryo research. I have also examined how we should legally classify ovarian transplantation because it can be used for both reproductive and non-reproductive purposes. Building on the development of ovarian transplantation, I have investigated why we have developed uterine transplantation and penile transplantation, but not clitoris transplantation.
LGBTQIA+ HEALTH
Queering Reproduction
Some of my research is at the intersection of assisted reproductive technologies and LGBTQ+ health. This work involves queering reproduction by expanding the definition of infertility to include LGBTQ+ people and changing professional medical guidelines to recognize non-heteronormative families. This research also addresses the importance of and ethical considerations for fertility preservation for intersex and transgender individuals.
Queer Bioethics
I also do research in LGBTQ+ health is outside of reproduction. For example, in a co-authored paper, we argue that conscientious objection to treating LGBTQ+ individuals is especially problematic because it involves morally opposing a group of people rather than to a specific procedure (e.g. abortion). Furthermore, colleagues and I contend that access to gender-affirming care should not unjustly discriminate between cisgender and transgender and gender-diverse people. I have also published qualitative projects with LGBTQ+ individuals regarding their relationships with their physicians and their views on health and aging as elderly trans individuals.
Views here are mine.