CCBI Director: Moira McQueen, LL.B, M.Div., Ph.D.
Dr. Moira Mary McQueen graduated in law from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and worked as a lawyer for several years, specializing in family law and juvenile court.

After her Master of Divinity Degree from the Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael’s College and the Toronto School of Theology, she graduated with a PhD in moral theology, also from St. Michael’s. She has been teaching moral theology at St Michael’s Graduate Faculty of Theology in the University of Toronto since 1994, and has written and co-authored many articles and book chapters in bioethics, fundamental ethics and other areas. Her book Bioethics Matters was updated and republished in 2011 and she is currently working on a book on moral distinctions.

Dr McQueen was appointed Executive Director of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute in July, 2004. The Institute, chaired by Cardinal Collins, has a mandate to conduct research and education in bioethics from a Roman Catholic perspective, and pursues bioethical issues in palliative and end of life care, reproductive technologies, stem cell experimentation and regenerative medicine, genetics, transgender issues and other current areas.

As Executive Director, she is deeply involved in community education through CCBI’s courses in bioethics for parishes across the country, and through lecturing and consultancy sessions with school boards, health care institutions, priests’ seminars, conferences, and through media appearances. She is frequently consulted by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In September, 2014, Pope Francis appointed her for a five year term to the International Theological Commission, a 30-member Vatican advisory body within the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. She was the Canadian lay representative at the Second Synod on Marriage and the Family at the Vatican in October, 2015.

Moira and her husband Matthew have seven children and, to date, 10 grandchildren.

Last but not least, she was the founding President of the Serra Club of Halton in 2012, and is the incoming President of the Serra Canada Council.


Researcher: Father Leo Walsh, CSB

Father Leo Walsh, CSB, Professor Emeritus Moral Theology, USMC Faculty of Theology, is Pastor at St. Paul’s Church, LaSalle, Ontario and a member of the staff of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute.


Administration: Bambi Rutledge

Bambi Rutledge is the administrator of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, a member of the Toronto Homelessness and Palliative Care Committee, and a graduate of the University of St Michael’s College in the University of Toronto.

Catholic Bioethics Institute.


Research Associate: Dr. Christina Lamb

Dr. Lamb is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health Disciplines at Athabasca University (Canada) and a Research Associate at the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute in St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto (Canada). She holds a Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Western Ontario (Canada) and a Masters in Bioethics from St. Mary’s University (UK).

Dr. Lamb was a Fellow in New Visions in Theological Anthropology at the University of St. Andrews (UK, 2020-22). Dr. Lamb has worked in front-line and leadership roles in nursing, specializing in pediatric oncology and palliative care. She was a Clinical Ethics Fellow at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas (USA) and a Visiting Academic at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (June, 2022).

As an inter-disciplinary researcher Dr. Lamb has expertise in moral philosophy, science-engaged theology, religion, and health science. Her work utilizes both theoretical and empirical research methods and focuses on conscience and human rights; population health: pediatric and end-of-life ethics; vulnerable populations; qualitative methods and ethical analysis.

Her research on conscience is captured in her project entitled the Aletheia Conscience Project. The aim of this project is to generate an appreciation of conscience for contemporary bioethics and healthcare contexts. Her current research on conscience consists of inter-disciplinary (empirical, philosophical, and theological) studies under Aletheia entitled, Conscience in healthcare and bioethics: Creating a science-engaged theological education intervention for healthcare professionals. Dr. Lamb also investigates ethical questions related to pediatric end-of-life ethics and is currently exploring the meaning of dying and death for children, their families, and carers in Canada.

Dr. Lamb has been awarded research funding through an Ontario Graduate Award; the Killam Foundation; the SickKids Foundation in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Human Development, Child, and Youth Health -New Investigator Research Award, as well as the Templeton Foundation through follow-on-funding in her fellowship at St. Andrews. She was an ethics consultant on a Canadian International Development Agency project between Canada and Rwanda, focusing on maternal, newborn and child health in Rwanda.

In addition to her research and consultation, Dr. Lamb has taught ethics courses in schools of philosophy, Christian studies, nursing, health sciences and to students in medicine, nursing, health and social sciences, philosophy, and theology.

Select publications:

  • Lamb C., Ramer K., Amodu O., Groenenboom K. (2022). A Scoping review of the meaning of
    death and dying for Canadian pediatric populations. Status: In process of submission.
  • Lamb, C. (2022). Voice, vulnerability and dependency of the child: Guiding concepts for shared- decision making. The American Journal of Bioethics 22(6): 34-36.
    doi: 10.1080/15265161.2022.2063445.
  • Lamb C, Kennedy, M, Clark A, et al. (2022). Effectiveness of interventions on healthcare
    professionals’ understanding and use of conscience: A systematic review protocol. BMJ
    Open. 12:e053880. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053880.
  • Lamb, C. (2021). Conscience: An Investigation in Stenian philosophy in relation to bioethics. Religions 12, 1-13. doi: 10.3390/rel12080566.
  • Lamb, C., Pesut, B. (2021). Conscience and conscientious objection in nursing: A Personalist bioethics approach. Nursing Ethics 28(7/8): 1319-1328. doi:10.1177/0969733021996037.
  • Lamb, C. (2020). Pediatric euthanasia in Canada: New challenges for end-of-life care. Paediatrics and Child Health, 15 April, 2020, pxaaa051. doi: 10.1093/pch/pxaa051
  • Lamb, C. (2016). Conscientious objection: Understanding the right of conscience in health and health care practice. The New Bioethics, 22(1), 33-44. doi:10.1080/20502877.2016.1151252

Email: Christina.lamb@utoronto.ca