A class on frontier bioethics. A technology most people have never heard of. And a question no one in the field had fully asked yet. That is how Carmen Haynes, MPH, began the research that would become her first peer-reviewed publication.
Carmen earned her Master of Public Health with a concentration in bioethics and health humanities from UTMB's School of Public and Population Health in 2024. She is now a PhD student in the same department, continuing to build on the interdisciplinary foundation that shaped her graduate work.
From Classroom Spark to Published Scholarship
The seed was planted in a summer course called Socially Disruptive Bioethics, taught by Dr. Richard Gibson. The class explored emerging technologies pushing the boundaries of medicine and science.
One topic stood out to Carmen: ectogestation, the process of gestating a fetus in an artificial womb outside the human body.
The technology, tested only on lambs using a sealed "biobag" that mimics a natural womb, holds promise for saving extremely premature infants. But Carmen saw something the conversation was missing.
"A lot of what bioethics is doing is trying to be on the cutting edge of medical technology. But it doesn't always consider the structural barriers that come with living in the United States."
Carmen Haynes, MPH
She began examining how artificial womb technology could intersect with the child welfare system, a system with a well-documented history of separating families through coercive legal mechanisms. Drawing on legal scholarship, historical analysis, and public health research, Carmen asked what safeguards, if any, existed to prevent this technology from being used to harm or exploit vulnerable mothers.
The result was a first-author publication in the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, co-authored with Dr. Emma Tumilty, published in December 2025. The paper offers policy recommendations including federal protections against coercive use of the technology.
The Hardest Part of Interdisciplinary Research
For Carmen, the most challenging aspect of the work was synthesis. Her argument wove together legal precedent, bioethics theory, historical patterns in child welfare, and public health policy.
"You have to marry legal research, make that speak to bioethics, make that speak to history, make that speak to policy. Marrying all of those languages was probably the most difficult part, but it was also one of the best skill builders I could have asked for."
Carmen Haynes, MPH
Carmen credits her professors and the structure of the MPH program with building her capacity to work across disciplines.
What the MPH Made Possible
Carmen sees her MPH as both a launchpad and a degree that stands on its own. "My MPH showed me I already had these skills and trained me to use them," she said. "It also showed me the importance of community involvement in the work that we do."
She encourages prospective students not to underestimate what the program can reveal about their own capabilities. "You don't necessarily have to pursue a PhD," she said. "But an MPH can show you what you are capable of and how to communicate your passions."
Her PhD research will continue to explore how historical and social forces shape maternal health policy, examining the ways motherhood itself is defined, regulated, and experienced in the United States.
Carmen's first peer-reviewed publication examines how artificial womb technology intersects with coercive child welfare practices — and what federal policy must do to protect vulnerable mothers.
Violent Legacies, New Threats: Protecting Black Motherhood in the Age of Artificial Womb Technology — Carmen Haynes and Emma Tumilty. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 2025.