Dr. Maureen Condic is the first Ombudsman and Mediator for the Catholic University of America. As Ombudsman, she serves the academic community as an independent and neutral resource to resolve conflicts informally and confidentially. She is also a Distinguished Ordinary Professor (ad interim), with her primary teaching responsibility being the development of interdisciplinary courses at undergraduate and graduate levels.
Dr. Condic received her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and her doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to joining the Catholic University of America in 2024, she was a faculty member in the Department of Neurobiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine for over 25 years, where she directed the Medical School curriculum in human embryology. Her research focuses on the role of stem cells in development and regeneration and has been nationally recognized by both the Basil O'Connor and the McKnight awards. Dr. Condic also served for over ten years as the inaugural Ombudsman for the University of Utah.
In addition to her academic positions, Dr. Condic is strongly committed to public service and education in a number of intersecting areas. In 2015, she was appointed to the Pontificia Academia Pro Vita, an international scientific advisory body to the Vatican. In 2018, she was appointed by the President of the United States to the National Science Board, that oversees the National Science Foundation and advises both the President and Congress on scientific issues. She has authored over 150 articles on science, ethics and science policy. She has presented over 250 lectures/interviews on her own research, science policy and research ethics in eleven countries (Brazil, Canada, Italy, Lithuania, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the Vatican), 37 US states and the District of Columbia. She as contributed to Amicus Curiae briefs and/or provided expert scientific testimony in four countries (Canada, Costa Rica, Ireland and the United Kingdom), and in legal matters before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Congress, the National Institutes of Health, fifteen States and the District of Columbia.
In 2018, Dr. Condic co-authored a book entitled Human Embryos, Human Beings, that explores the nature of the human embryo from scientific and philosophic perspectives. This publication recently won the international Expanded Reason competition, that recognizes “university work that serves the truth and aspires to the promotion of man and of the society.” Her second book, Untangling Twinning (2020), considers the biologic and philosophic issues raised by human monozygotic twinning.
Selected Publications:The following have been selected to represent the diversity of Dr. Condic’s contributions to science, ethics and public policy.
Condic, M.L. (2022). Is the Human Embryo an Organism? Chapter 1; Agency, Pregnancy, and Persons: Essays In Defense of Human Life. Routledge, “Annals of Bioethics.” Eds. Nick Colgrove, N., Blackshaw, B. and Rodger, D. Routledge Press. New York, NY.
Condic, M.L. (2020). Untangling Twinning; Identity; Totipotency and the value of human embryos. University of Notre Dame Press. Notre Dame, IN.
Condic, S.B., Condic, M.L. (2018). Human Embryos, Human Beings. Catholic University of America Press. Washington, D.C.
Condic, M.L., Harrison, D. (2018). Treatment of an ectopic pregnancy: An ethical re-analysis. Linacre Quarterly; 85(3): 241-251.
Condic, M.L. (2017). Virtues beyond a utilitarian approach in biomedical research. In Virtues in the Ethics of Life, ed. Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, Vincenzo Paglia and Renzo Pegoraro. Pontifical Academy for Life. Liberia Editrice Vaticana. Rome, Italy. 99-113.
Condic, M.L. (2016). Determination of Death: A scientific perspective on biological integration. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. Jun;41(3):257-78. PMID: 27075193
Condic, M.L. (2016). Determination of Death: A scientific perspective on biological integration. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. Jun;41(3):257-78. PMID: 27075193
Condic, M.L., Flannery, K. (2014). A contemporary Aristotelian embryology. Nova and Vetera, English Edition, Vol. 12, No. 2: 495-508.
Condic, M.L. (2014). Totipotency: What it is and what it is not. Stem Cells and Development 23, 796-812.
Maguire, C.T., Demarest, B, Hill, J, Brothman, A.R., Yost, H.J, Condic, M.L. (2013). Genome-wide RNA sequencing reveals the unique stem cell identity of human amniocytes. PlosOne 8, e53372.
Condic, M.L. (2011). Chapter 10: A biological definition of the human embryo. A Critical Analysis of Pro-Choice Arguments: Persons, Moral Worth, and Embryos. Ed. Stephen Napier. Philosophy and Medicine Series, Springer, New York, NY.
Strachan, L. R., Condic, M.L. (2004). Cranial neural crest recycle surface integrins in a substratum-dependent manner to promote rapid motility. J. Cell Biology 167, 545-54.