CLAUDIA R. SOTOMAYOR, MD, DBe
Chief of the Ethics Consultation Service MGUH and Assistant Professor at the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics
Dr. Claudia Sotomayor, is the Chief of the Clinical Consultation Service of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, a Cura Personalis Fellow and an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine of GUMC. She holds an M.D. from Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua, in Chihuahua, Mexico and a Doctorate in Bioethics from Loyola University in Chicago Il, USA. Claudia also completed a fellowship in Clinical Bioethics at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston TX. (USA). She has been a Research Scholar for UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights since 2012 where she has worked in the area of Multiculturalism, Bioethics and Religion. She has also served as a member of the Ethics committee in different hospitals in the USA. Before coming to the USA, she worked in different hospitals in Mexico as a primary care physician, and was the health committee coordinator for FUNDESPEN, a non-profit that provides medical care to Mayan communities in rural areas of Quintana Roo, Mexico.
MARGUERITE DUANE, MD, MHA, FAAFP
Co-Founder and Executive Director, FACTS
Dr. Marguerite Duane, a board-certified family physician, is co-founder and Executive Director of FACTS about Fertility, an organization dedicated to educating medical professionals and students about the scientific evidence supporting fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs). She also serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Georgetown and Duquesne University. Dr. Duane cares for patients via a direct primary care house-calls based practice, MD for Life, and previously worked as medical director of the Catholic Charities community health centers in DC and Maryland. Dr. Duane currently serves as the CMA State Director for DC, and is the past president of the St. Giuseppe Moscatti DC CMA Guild. She has served on the board of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC).
Dr. Duane trained as a Creighton, FEMM and NeoFertility Medical consultant, and a TeenSTAR educator. She received her M.D. degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and completed her Family Medicine residency at Lancaster General Hospital in Pennsylvania. She received a Bachelor of Science with Honors and a Master of Health Administration degree from Cornell University. In 2022, Dr. Duane completed a primary care research fellowship at the University of Utah earning a Master of Science in Public Health. Dr. Duane is married to fellow family physician, Dr. Kenneth Lin, and they are delighted to be the parents of 4 children, Isaac Thomas, Eden Rose, Ellis John and Gianna Marie Lin.
MICHAEL J. DEEM, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Human Genetics, Core Faculty, Center for Bioethics and Health Law, Director, Consortium Ethics Program, University of Pittsburgh
Michael J. Deem, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Genetics and Core Faculty in the Center for Bioethics & Health Law at the University of Pittsburgh, and serves as the Director of the University’s Consortium Ethics Program, which provides continuing ethics education to health care professionals in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. He is also a Resident Fellow of the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh, subject faculty for the Children’s Mercy Hospital Pediatric Ethics Certificate Program, a member of the Hospital Ethics Committee at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and a member of the Modern Fertility Care Collaborative.
Dr. Deem received his Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and completed the Pediatric Ethics and Genomic Fellowship at Children’s Mercy Hospital. He is the author of more than 20 scholarly articles and book chapters on philosophy of science, bioethics, ethical theory, and empirical health research. He is currently completing a monograph for Cambridge University Press on fundamental concepts in genomic medicine, and is co-editing the Oxford University of Handbook of Genetic Counseling and Nursing Ethics: Normative Foundations, Advanced Concepts, and Emerging Issues for Oxford University Press.
Dr. Deem lives outside Pittsburgh with his wife, Katerina, and their five children. He is a candidate in the Deacon Formation Program of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and works in shipping and quality control for Katerina’s Catholic company, Little Way Design Co.
KRISTIN M. COLLIER, MD, FACP
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Director of the University of Michigan Medical School Program on Health, Spirituality and Religion
Kristin M. Collier, MD, FACP is an associate professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Michigan where she serves as the director of the University of Michigan Medical School Program on Health, Spirituality and Religion. She is also an associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the University of Michigan where she oversees the primary care track. She received her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed her internship, residency, and chief residency at The University of Michigan Hospitals. Her academic interests are in the overlap of spirituality, religion and medicine and her peer reviewed work has been published in high-impact journals such as JAMA Internal Medicine, the Annals of Internal Medicine, and the British Medical Journal. She also has had writings published in Notre Dame’s Church Life Journal, Theopolis, America Magazine, and Public Discourse. She is also a wife and the proud mother of four sons.
GWYNETH ANNE SPAEDER, MD
Pediatrician
Gwyneth Anne Spaeder, MD, attended the University of Dallas where she graduated with a degree in Political Philosophy. She then attended The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, graduating in 2005. She is a Board-Certified Pediatrician and has practiced in both community ER and private practice settings. She completed a certificate in Health Care Ethics through the National Catholic Bioethics Center in 2015 and has published several articles pertaining to vaccine ethics. She also served as the guest editor for a NCBC Quarterly edition focused on Pediatric-specific issues. She is a recurrent presenter at Theology of the Body workshops for teens and for NFP/Marriage prep within the Diocese of Raleigh. She is a member of the Catholic Medical Association Triangle Guild. She lives in Wake Forest, NC with her husband and three children.
ANTHONY ISACCO, PhD
Professor, Director of Training for PsyD Program, Chatham University
Anthony Isacco, PhD, is a professor of Graduate Psychology at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA and Director of Training for the PsyD in Counseling Psychology program. He is a licensed psychologist in PA and authorized to provide telepsychology services in approximately 40 states. He maintains a small private practice with a niche focus on the psychological assessment of clergy candidates to the Catholic Church. Dr. Isacco has published widely through his books, popular press articles, and academic journals on the psychological health of seminarians, fatherhood, and the psychology of men and masculinity. He sits on the Advisory Board of Saint Paul Seminary, Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Formation Team of Saint Cyril and Methodius Seminary, Pittsburgh Byzantine Eparchy, and Catholic Psychotherapy Association Board of Directors. He is a proud graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville (BA, '02), Boston College (MA, '04), and Loyola University Chicago (PhD, '09). He is married to Celeste and has four daughters, Sophia, Claire, Gianna, and Monica.
MOST REV. DAVID A. ZUBIK
Bishop David A. Zubik was ordained a priest on May 3, 1975, by Bishop Vincent M. Leonard at Saint Paul Cathedral, Pittsburgh. Following Bishop Zubik’s first priestly assignment as Parochial Vicar of Sacred Heart Parish, Shadyside, he served as Vice Principal of Quigley Catholic High School, Baden, and Chaplain to the Sisters of Saint Joseph Motherhouse and the students at Mount Gallitzin Academy. At the same time, he earned a master’s degree in education administration from Duquesne University. He also served as adjunct spiritual director at Saint Paul Seminary and associate spiritual director at Saint Vincent Seminary, Latrobe. His administrative appointments in diocesan central administration have included Administrative Secretary to then-Pittsburgh Bishop Anthony J. Bevilacqua, Administrative Secretary and Master of Ceremonies to then-Pittsburgh Bishop Donald W. Wuerl, Director of Clergy Personnel, Associate General Secretary and Chancellor, and Vicar General and General Secretary.
Bishop Zubik was consecrated a bishop on April 6, 1997, at Saint Paul Cathedral and was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
On October 10, 2003, the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, named the Most Reverend David A. Zubik as the Eleventh Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay. Bishop Zubik was installed as Bishop on December 12, 2003.
On July 18, 2007, he was named by Pope Benedict XVI as the Twelfth Bishop of Pittsburgh. He was installed at Saint Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh on September 28, 2007.