Maria McDonald, BComm, JD, MHSc (Bioethics)
Bioethicist and Privacy Officer
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

Telephone: (416) 425-6220 ext. 6408
Email: mmcdonald@hollandbloorview.ca

 

Maria McDonald has been working as the Bioethicist at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital since 2007, and is a member of the Research Ethics Board. In 2010, she was also appointed Privacy Officer for Holland Bloorview. Since 2007, she has been the Course Lead for "Legal Approaches to Bioethics" in the MHSc Program in Bioethics at the Joint Centre for Bioethics, and is appointed Adjunct Professor to the Faculty of Law and the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto. In 2008, she received the Graduate Course Lecturer Award from the Institute of Medical Sciences at University of Toronto.

 

Maria earned her Bachelor of Commerce and Finance at the University of Toronto and her Juris Doctor at Osgoode Hall Law School. After practicing law for seven years on behalf of injured people, Maria continued developing her interest in health law and bioethics as a member and Vice-Chair on the Research Ethics Board of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. In 2005 Maria received a MHSc in Bioethics and in 2007 completed a postgraduate Clinical Ethics Fellowship, both at the University of Toronto.

 

Maria has a wide range of interests and her current focus is in the area of justified decision making, as well consent and capacity in pediatric settings. She, together with Randi Zlotnik Shaul and Jacob C. Langer, recently published a paper in Healthcare Quarterly entitled "Facilitating Innovation in the Clinical Setting: A Pathway for Operationalizing Accountability" [2009;12(3):60-65].