Contact: Alessia.Maccaro@warwick.ac.uk 

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Research interests

• Ethics and Bioethics
• Ethics and Healthcare Technologies / AI
• Wellbeing monitoring through Devices/Wearables
• Ethical dilemmas of Regulations on Medical Devices
• Ethical aspects of EU Project
• Multiculturalism and Intercultural Philosophy
• Interaction between universalism of human rights & traditional particularism of Low-and Middle-income countries (LMICs) cultures
• Impact of Health technologies on cultural and social traditions of LMICs

Biosketch

Alessia Maccaro was born in Naples, Italy, in 1988. She achieved the Diploma degree [BA] in Philosophy in 2010, at the University of Naples Federico II (Italy). In 2012, Alessia achieved the Master [MA] in Philosophy at the same University.

During her Ph.D in Philosophical Sciences, curriculum of Bioethics, she did two field researches (03/2016 and 04-05/2017) in Department of Philosophy, Sociology and Anthropology, University of Abomey Calavi - Bénin (Africa)- prof. Roch. Hougnihin.

She finalized her Ph.D (viva date: 23/10/2017) with a thesis entitled: “Illness and treatment in Benin. Between traditional particularism and universalism of human rights: a perspective of intercultural bioethics”: http://www.fedoa.unina.it/11902/Link opens in a new window , Alessia then followed up with the following key moments:-

• 2018 - Postdoctoral research fellow in Bioethics at the Department of Social Science of the University of Naples “Federico II”.
• 2019 - Fernandes Fellowship in the University of Warwick.
• 2019-2021 - She held a two years WIRL COFUND Fellowship (Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions in the Institute of Advanced Study)- University of Warwick on ethical dilemmas of regulations on Medical Devices.
• 2022 - Currently she is a Research Fellow in the School of Engineering of the University of Warwick and is responsible of the ethical aspect of the Gatekeeper Project, and continues her research on the relationship between ethics and health technologies and LMICs.

She is Secretary of the Ethical Committee of European Alliance of Medical and Biological Engineering and Science (EAMBES), and is member of different professional bodies (scientific societies) as the Italian Society of Moral Philosophy (SIFM), Interuniversity Center of Bioethical Research (CIRB - University of Naples Federico II) and she is member of Scientific Advisory Board of the Laboratory “Ethics, Bioethics and citizenship” (EBC), University of Naples Federico II.

She has authored many scientific articles, books chapters and books about moral philosophy and bioethics.

Research project:

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) of Medical Devices (MDs) in low and middle-income countries (LMIC)

Awards:

2015 First Prize, Young Award, Consulta di Bioetica Onlus 2015

Recent publications

1. (2022) A. Maccaro, D. Piaggio, S. Leesurakarn, S. Sekalala, S. M. Rai, L. Pecchia, On the universality of Medical Device Regulations: the case of Benin, in «BMC Health Services Research» accepted 29 Apr 2022.
2. (2022) A. Maccaro, D. Piaggio, M. Vignigbé, A. Singl, L. Pecchia, COVID-19 preparedness and social dynamics in a Sub-Saharan Africa country, Benin, in «Health Promotion International», accepted 4 Apr 2022.
3. (2022) A. Maccaro, D. Piaggio, I. B. Oronti, M. Vignigbé, A. Gbokli, R. Hougnihin, L. Pecchia, Social engagement in the fight against COVID-19 in the urban and peri-urban areas of Cotonou (Benin, Sub-Saharan Africa): acceptability of the vaccination and tracking program, in «Frontiers in Medicine», accepted March 2022.
4. (2022) A. Maccaro, L. Pecchia, Scienza, etica, politica e società. Un dialogo interdisciplinare sollecitato dalla pandemia di Covid-19, in A. Maccaro- R. Prodomo (a cura di), Le sfide del Covid-19 alla bioetica, Quaderni di bioetica nr. 20, Mimesis, Milano, 2022, pp. 49-64
5. (2021) A. Maccaro, D. Piaggio, C. Dodaro, L. Pecchia, Biomedical engineering and ethics: reflections on medical devices and PPE at the time of Covid-19, in «BMC Medical Ethics», 22:130 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-021-00697-1 , https://rdcu.be/cyAIH
6. (2021) D. Piaggio, R. Castaldo, M. Cinelli, S. Cinelli, A. Maccaro, L. Pecchia, A MCDA framework for designing medical devices resilient to low-resource settings: an application for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in «Globalization and Health» 17, 64 (2021), 22-06-2021 https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12992-021-00718-z
7. (2021) G. Attademo- A. Maccaro, Research Ethics in the Social Sciences, in G. Punziano – A. Delli Paoli (a cura di), Handbook of Research on Advanced Research Methodologies for a Digital Society, IGI Global, 2021, pp. 54-64 (ISBN 9781799884736). https://www.igi-global.com/book/handbook-research-advanced-research-methodologies/270864
8. (2021) A. Maccaro, D. Piaggio, S. Pagliara, L. Pecchia, The role of ethics in science: a systematic literature review from the first wave of COVID 19, in «Health and Technology» (Springer), 03/06/2021: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12553-021-00570-6.pdf
9. (2021) K. Stokes, R. Castaldo, C. Federici, S. Pagliara, A. Maccaro, F. Cappuccio, G. Fico, M. Salvatore, M. Franzese, L. Pecchia, The use of Artificial Intelligence Systems in Diagnosis of Pneumonia via signs and symptoms: a systematic review, in «Biomedical Signal Processing and Control», 72 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1746809421009228
10. (2020) Maccaro, D. Piaggio, C. Dodaro, L. Pecchia, Mental illness in some Sub Saharan African communities: the perspective of Bioethics and transcultural nursing, in «Medicina e Morale», 2020/4, pp. 493-502
11. (2020) L. Di Pietro, D. Piaggio, I. Oronti, A. Maccaro, R.C. Houosseuvo, D. Medenou, C. De Maria, L. Pecchia, A. Ahluwalia, A Framework for Assessing Healthcare Facilities in Low‑Resource Settings: Field Studies in Benin and Uganda, in «Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering» (Springer), 24 June 2020: https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s40846-020-00546-3?sharing_token=toBHk6WnSljwN2r-d3fzZfe4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY4lDFxo1lgZgm82hYkcvoziteKf2CNP1R9YcHTUl_Wk991__VcmMc2dtQxoSjpLuvkb0Jgv1slR2wDWJImXCuIAh3Y0CnH706oQyzDUGDI16J08BOI9fx6YoRCfTp5OEuE%3D(DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-020-00546-3)
12. (2020) L. Pecchia, D. Piaggio, A. Maccaro, C. Formisano, E. Iadanza, The inadequacy of regulatory frameworks in time of crisis and in Low-Resource Settings: Personal Protective Equipment and COVID19, in «Health and Technology» (Springer), 2 May 2020:
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12553-020-00429-2(DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12553-020-00429-2)
13. (2019) Per una bioetica interculturale [For an intercultural bioethics], Aracne: Roma, 2019 (ISBN: 978-88-255-2808-4)
14. (2018) Beninese therapeutic pluralism. Historical roots and bioethical issues, in «Journal of Theoretical and Applied Vascular Research», 2018, 3 (1), pp. 9- 14, DOI: 10.24019/jtavr.53, ISSN 2532-0831 (http://www.vasculab.eu/jtavr/jtavr03/jtavr031/jtavr031.htm)
15. (2016) Madmen to untie. Bioethics between respect of cultural practices and human rights, in «Medicina e Morale», 2, pp. 155-165 (ISSN: 0025-7834).