The Ideal Co-Author

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The Ideal Co-Author

Grace VanEtten '26 and Professor Christopher Riddle

Grace VanEtten ’26 is handpicked by Professor Christopher A. Riddle to share authorship in prestigious bioethics journal

She was at the gym when she looked down at her phone and saw an e-mail from Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Dr. Christopher Riddle, who was teaching her Healthcare Ethics (PHI 385) class that fall.

Grace VanEtten ’26 paused her workout to read the message.

It began with something to the effect of, “Hey, you can say no, but I’d like to offer you the opportunity to work with me on this.” Attached to the e-mail was an article recently published in the American Journal of Bioethics on principlistic equality. The journal, to which Riddle has previously contributed, was seeking a peer commentary, and he thought VanEtten would be good fit to coauthor the piece with him.

The invitation initially caught the biology major off guard. She remembered Riddle mentioning in class early in the semester that he will, on occasion, ask students to work with him on these kinds of projects. While she was impressed by what he had said at the time, she never seriously imagined that an opportunity of this magnitude would come her way.

“He’s the type of professor who really likes to get students involved,” she says of Riddle, “but I didn’t feel that something like this would actually happen.” The American Journal of Bioethics, after all, is one of the most influential journals in the field, VanEtten thought. Rarely does it feature even graduate student authors, let alone undergraduates.

Before long, though, her surprise gave way to excitement, and she jumped at the opportunity. “Oh my gosh, I would absolutely love to do that,” she remembers writing in her reply email. “When do we get started?”

The value of a novel perspective

The article’s subject matter was certainly familiar to VanEtten. Much of Riddle’s Healthcare Ethics course is centered on principlistic equality, or principlism – in simple terms, the idea that there are four coequal principles of bioethics: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Within this framework, these core principles must be considered nonhierarchical – or so the idea goes – and must be carefully balanced by physicians and other medical professionals when treating patients.

Principlism is a foundational yet debated concept in medicine. “In the absence of us viewing principles as equal, we need some sort of moral argument involving the prioritizing of some over others,” Riddle explains.

In the article Riddle shared with VanEtten, the author found that many medical professionals have tended to prioritize non-maleficence over autonomy – that is to say, prioritizing doing no harm to a patient over respecting the patient’s choices and directives regarding their medical treatment. This tendency, deliberate or not, often manifests as a kind of paternalism, especially, and most alarmingly, in cases involving patients with physical, cognitive, or intellectual disabilities. This, Riddle and VanEtten argue, is highly problematic and deeply concerning.

“When doctors are emphasizing non-maleficence, that can create a really estranged relationship, especially for patients who aren’t able to advocate for themselves,” VanEtten says. “When we’re making decisions for patients that we think are doing no harm, that bias could cause huge harm, even if based in an empathetic thought process.”

“The opportunities I’ve had here, I don’t think any of it would’ve happened if I were at a different university.”
Grace VanEtten '26

Any research or opinion suggesting that non-maleficence should be prioritized over autonomy – or beneficence or justice, for that matter – can be based on a troublesome and misguided underlying notion, Riddle contends.

“I don’t think anyone reasonably thinks doctors are out to get anyone,” he says, “but the arguments often given to justify treating people with disabilities one way or another involve negative assessments about the quality of life of disabled individuals. Failing to treat people with disabilities as people able to make conclusions about their own care happens all the time. Many medical professionals are willing to deny people autonomy under the guise of promoting what’s perceived to best for them. These misbegotten efforts to save people, or to save people from themselves, leads to the potential for disrespect and harm.”

Riddle believes VanEtten was, on many levels, the ideal co-author.

“The reason I thought about her is not only because she is bright, but she is also one of the more intellectually curious people I’ve ever had in the class,” he says. “What was clear from the outset in her responses in class was that she cared about individuals and she cared about promoting justice and hearing people’s voices.

“I also have to admit,” he continues, “I thought of it in terms of whom might benefit the most from this. For someone applying to med school, this is probably going to really help their application and maybe help their career. So I thought, here I have someone deserving of the work and who would benefit from it, so this is great.”

Setting all of that aside, Riddle says what he coveted most was a collaborator who is able to both offer novel perspectives and to check his own.

“Of course, the invitation to co-author this piece wasn’t charity,” he says. “It wasn’t me thinking only, ‘Oh, here’s a good opportunity for her.’ While it is true it may have been a good opportunity, I also asked myself, ‘If I can think about this with someone, who would I like to think about this with?’ It was a benefit to me to ask her to be a part of this, and it’s a different article because of her contributions.”

Fearless in pursuit of her goals

VanEtten, who recently began work as an EMT last year, long ago set her sights on a career in medicine. Over her three years at Utica University, she had developed a medical school portfolio that is on par with top-tier applicants.

“I genuinely believe there’s not a medical school that’s out of her reach,” Riddle says.

Her experience at Utica has been defined at every turn, she says, by professors encouraging her to be fearless in pursuit of her goals – even the most far-reaching ones. Case in point: while still in her first year of college, VanEtten, at the urging of her pre-med advisor, Distinguished Professor of Biology Professor Adam Pack, applied to a highly competitive summer research program at UMass Chan Medical School. She was one of 32 undergraduates in total and one of only two rising sophomores selected for the 10-week experience, which is funded in part by the National Institute of Health. The experience remains one of her most memorable.

“It was something I never thought possible,” she says of the opportunity. “Dr. Pack even said, ‘It is unlikely for a rising sophomore to get in, but there is no reason not to try with your experience.’ He knew that, statistically, the chances were super low, but he believed in me, and that meant more than any acceptance would.”

For VanEtten – as for so many of her fellow students – achieving the unimaginable has become almost commonplace at Utica. “The opportunities I’ve had here, I don’t think any of it would’ve happened if I were at a different university,” she says.” The incredible individuals I have met have absolutely changed the trajectory of my future for the better.”

She is confident that her experiences with Riddle – as a student, mentee, and co-author – will prove to be a key influence on her future work, both as a medical student and ultimately a physician motivated to create meaningful connection and compassionate action.

“I hope to become a doctor who values real principlistic equality and is able to treat patients in a way that results in the best possible outcomes for them,” she says. “Often times that can be forgotten and replaced with ‘whatever I as the doctor think is the best outcome,’ but I believe my experience with Dr. Riddle will help me avoid such errors.”

Riddle’s and VanEtten’s article will be published this spring. “The fact that my name will now be in one of the most influential bioethics journals is kind of mind-blowing,” she says. “It’s a little hard to wrap my head around – but I couldn’t be more grateful.”

And just as hard to believe it all started so innocuously with a casual, off-the-cuff, first-day-of-class comment by her ethics professor.

“It's funny, I forgot saying that, but I now recall doing so,” Riddle says. “Working with her was a really wonderful experience. She’s special, and she’s going to do great things.”