Tess Johnson

Dr Tess Johnson is a GLIDE postdoctoral researcher in the ethics of pandemic preparedness, surveillance and response. She is based at the Ethox Centre, working with Professor Michael Parker, and she will also have a residency period at the Johns Hopkins University Berman Institute of Bioethics.

Her particular focus is on antimicrobial resistance, and natural and engineered pathogens. Her primary research questions concern the ethical lessons we might learn about policy making from reviewing  interventions for preparation, surveillance and response across antimicrobial stewardship policy, the COVID-19 response, and surveillance for biosecurity. 

Concurrently with her primary role, Tess holds a number of other positions. She is a Forethought Fellow at the Global Priorities Institute, where she conducts research on global catastrophic biological risks. She is also a stipendiary lecturer in moral philosophy (various papers) at University College, Oxford. Finally, she has a pastoral care and disciplinary role as the Deputy Principal of Postmasters at Merton College, Oxford. 

Tess is a bioethicist by training, having completed her DPhil in Philosophy in 2022 at the University of Oxford. Her research on the ethics of human enhancement was conducted under the supervision of Professor Julian Savulescu and Dr Alberto Giubilini. Other areas of research interest include global health ethics, genetic ethics, and reproductive ethics.