Lauren Freeman, Ph.D.

Lauren Freeman, Ph.D. is a Professor of Philosophy at University of Louisville and director of the M.A. in Applied Philosophy. She conducts impact driven, interdisciplinary research that aims to understand how members of marginalized groups are oppressed in both obvious and subtle ways within the context of science, medicine, health, and healthcare. Freeman is known for pushing bioethical and medical research to include patient groups who have traditionally been excluded from discussions, specifically, patients who are marginalized on the basis of sex, gender, race, body size, and disability. Her research has been featured in Nature and chosen as the feature article in prestigious health sciences, philosophy, and policy journals.

Freeman has been invited to lecture on health equity and health justice at medical and nursing schools across North America. She has also given workshops to healthcare, legal, healthcare risk management, and medical audit organizations across the United States, Canada, and in the United Kingdom on how to implement more just, compassionate, equitable healthcare to members of marginalized groups.

Freeman has collaborated with University of Louisville’s School of Medicine eQuality Project (the first national pilot project to include LGBTQ+ content into medical school curriculum), the School of Medicine’s LGBTQ+ Center, and UofL’s Center for Mental Health Disparities.

Freeman is the co-author, with Heather Stewart, Ph.D., of the 2024 book Microaggressions in Medicine.