Keisha S. Ray

Keisha Shantel Ray is an American bioethicist. She is the John P. McGovern, MD Professor of Oslerian Medicine at the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Education and focus of research Ray graduated with B.A. in philosophy from Baylor University in 2007, and completed her PhD in philosophy at the University of Utah in 2013.

According to Ray, her work primarily focuses on the effects of institutional racism on Black people's health, highlighting Black people's own stories. Her work examines the ways that discrimination in our political and social lives contribute to Black people's worse than average health outcomes. She also researches the sociopolitical implications of biomedical enhancement, including how they widen the gap between those with good and those with bad health. Her work uniquely prioritizes linguistic justice as a matter of access and commitment to public scholarship.

Affiliations

American Journal of Bioethics, Digital Media Editor/Blog Editor, Associate Editor Journal of Clinical Ethics, Editorial Board Journal of Medical Humanities, Senior Associate Editor Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, Editorial Board Hastings Center Fellow

Publications

Books

Carlin, Nathan and Ray, Keisha. Medicine, Meaning, and Identity. Oxford University Press. 2025. IBSN 9780197697382.

Book Chapters

Articles