Dónal P. O'Mathúna

Fellow

Dónal P. O'Mathúna, Ph.D., is Lecturer in Health Care Ethics in the School of Nursing at Dublin City University in Dublin, Ireland and a Fellow of The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. He is involved in various editorial capacities with Ethics & Medicine, Journal of Christian Nursing, FACT: Focus on Complementary & Alternative Medicine, Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, Alternative Therapies in Women’s Health, and Research Practitioner. 

Dónal was born and raised in Ireland, and earned a B.S. in pharmacy from Trinity College, Dublin. He received his Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from The Ohio State University. After this, he pursued his interest in bioethics by obtaining an M.A. in Theology from Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. Dónal taught for several years at Mount Carmel College of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio until he returned to Ireland in 2003.

Dónal's interest in alternative medicine started with his Ph.D. research which involved isolating and identifying potential new drugs from herbal remedies. He later became concerned about the theological and ethical implications of certain alternative therapies. Under the guidance of the Christian Medical and Dental Society, Dónal has co-authored Alternative Medicine: The Christian Handbook (Zondervan, 2001) with Walt Larimore, MD. This book evaluates alternative medicine from both a theological and scientific evidence-based perspective to provide a broad-ranging reliable resource on alternative medicine. Dónal has also edited, with Bart Cusveller and Agneta Sutton, Commitment and Responsibility in Nursing: A Faith-Based Approach. (Dordt Press, 2004). Dónal is a co-author for the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity and Kregel's BioBasics series, a set of question and answer booklets addressing bioethical issues from an evangelical perspective. Dónal has published numerous articles on various topics in alternative medicine, bioethics, and chemistry. For a complete list of his publications click here.