Celia B. Fisher

Celia Fisher

Celia B. Fisher, Ph.D.
Professor
Marie Ward Doty University Chair in Ethics
Director, Fordham University Center for Ethics Education
Director, HIV/Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Institute
Research Lab: Human Development and Social Justice Lab

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 718-817-3793
Office: Rose Hill Campus: Dealy Hall, Room 117
Currently accepting students and trainees

Keywords: bioethics; research ethics; racial justice; HIV prevention; addiction and drug abuse; substance use and abuse; health disparities; Covid-19; multiculturalism; HIV/AIDS; adolescent health; racial and ethnic minority health; sexual and gender minority health; LGBTQ youth; racial minority youth; social determinants of health; vulnerable populations

Celia Fisher in the News
- "Paying for Participating in Social-Behavioral Studies: Practical and Ethical Considerations" at the OHRP Exploratory Workshop 2022: Beyond altruism - Exploring payment for research participation. (Videocast & Presentation Slides)
- "COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy Among Parents of Young Children" at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
- "Why Parent's Resist COVID Vaccines" on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Works and Scholarship
View Recent Publications
View PubMed Publications
Author of: Decoding the Ethics Code: A Practical Guide for Psychologists (Fifth Edition)
Featured Covid-19 Articles
Celia Fisher's CV

Major Research Interests

  • Health disparities, human rights, and identity development in adolescent, racial/ethnic minority and LGBT youth and adult populations
  • HIV/AIDS prevention research ethics
  • Substance abuse prevention
  • Covid-19 mental health and vaccine hesitancy
  • Informed consent capacity of healthy and hospitalized children and youth, adults with intellectual disabilities, individuals who use drugs, and those with mental disorders
  • Ethical attitudes and moral values among ethnic minority, LGBT, community workers and socially vulnerable groups
  • Social Justice
  • Research and professional ethics
  • Social implications of genetic testing
Decoding the Ethics Code.

Biography
Celia B. Fisher, Ph.D., is the Marie Ward Doty Endowed University Chair in Ethics and Professor of Psychology, and founding Director of the Fordham University Center for Ethics Education. She currently directs the NIDA funded Fordham University HIV/Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Training Institute.

Dr. Fisher has over 300 publications and 8 edited volumes on children’s health research and services among diverse racial/ethnic, sexual and gender minority groups in the U.S. and internationally.  She has been funded by NIDA, NICHD NIAID, NIAAA, NSF, and NIMHD. Recent publications include research on health equity for BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and economically marginalized children, youth and young adults in areas including social determinants of sexual health, substance use, social media and offline discrimination, mental health and COVID-related distress and racial bias among Asian, Indigenous, Hispanic, Black and White adolescents and adults, and parental COVID-19 pediatric vaccine hesitancy across diverse populations. Dr. Fisher is well-known for her federally funded research programs focusing on ethical issues and well-being of vulnerable populations including ethnic minority youth and families, LGBTQ+ youth, persons with HIV and substance use disorders, college students at risk for drinking problems, and adults with impaired consent capacity.

A founding editor of the journal Applied Developmental Science, Dr. Fisher is the author of Decoding the Ethics Code: A Practical Guide for Psychologists (Fifth Edition) (2022, Sage Publications); co-editor of eight books, including The Handbook of Ethical Research with Ethnocultural Populations and Communities (2006, Sage Publications) and Research with High-Risk Populations: Balancing Science, Ethics, and Law (2009, APA Publications). She has served as chair for the Ethics Code Task Force for the Society for Research in Child Development, Chair of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Human Studies Review Board, the DHHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP; Subcommittee on Children’s Research), the American Psychological Association’s Ethics Code Task Force, the New York State Licensing Board for Psychology, the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Common Rule Task Force, and the American Public Health Association Ethics Code Committee. She has been a member of national panels amd external advisory boards relevant to children;s health including the NIH Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, the Consensus Panel of the American Psychological Association Therapeutic Responses to Gender Nonconformity, Gender Dysphoria, and Sexual Orientation Distress in Children and Adolescents, the National Academies' Committee on Revisions to the Common Rule for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences, the IOM Committee on Ethical Review and Oversight Issues in Research Involving Standard of Care Interventions, the IOM Committee on Clinical Research Involving Children. She received the American Psychological Association’s 2017 Outstanding Contributions to Ethics Education Award, the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Human Research Protection, and was named a 2012 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Recipient of the 2017 American Psychological Association’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Ethics Education. Dr. Fisher is currently a member of the Data Monitoring Board and NIH/NIDA HEALing Study (HCS)