Chair, Associate Professor
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dr. Nicholas G. Evans, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and affiliate faculty at the Center of Terrorism and Security Studies. A 2020-2023 Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholar, he currently conducts research on the ethics of emerging biotechnologies, with a focus on national security issues. He is best known for his research on “dual-use research” in the life sciences and has recently begun work examining research ethics concerns arising from the performance enhancement of active military personnel, funded by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
In addition to his work on emerging technologies, Dr. Evans is a recognized expert in public health ethics, writing on the ethics of social distancing, research ethics during health emergencies, and the use of force in pandemic response. His 2016 collection, Ebola’s Message: Public Health and Medicine in the 21st Century received favorable reviews in Nature. His new, sole authored work on the ethics of pandemic preparedness and response, War on All Fronts: A Theory of Health Security Justice, will be published with The MIT Press in early 2023.
Prior to his appointment at the University of Massachusetts, Dr. Evans completed postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2015, he held an Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative Fellowship at the UPMC Center for Health Security, Baltimore, held visiting appointments at the Universities of Exeter, Bradford, and Cambridge, and is a three-time Fondation Brocher resident scholar in bioethics in Hermance, Switzerland. He has served a policy officer with the Australian Department of Health.