Peter Zuk

Peter Zuk, PhD

Research Fellow, Brain Bioethics Lab

Peter Zuk, PhD, is a research fellow in the Brain Bioethics Lab at Harvard Medical School’s Center for Bioethics. He received his PhD in philosophy from Rice University in 2019. His work investigates the relationship between conceptions of mind, value, and the human person in the history of philosophy in order to address contemporary questions about the nature of moral objectivity, welfare, meaningfulness, and their manifestations in debates about emerging neurotechnologies. His applied work on these technologies has focused on novel applications of deep brain stimulation and also examined topics such as neuroimaging, disorders of consciousness, and neural organoids. He recently began an NIH-BRAIN Initiative fellowship grant (F32MH127776) examining conceptual, ethical, and social aspects of research developing brain-based artificial vision.

Publications View
Participant perceptions of changes in psychosocial domains following participation in an adaptive deep brain stimulation trial.
Authors: Authors: Merner AR, Kostick-Quenet K, Campbell TA, Pham MT, Sanchez CE, Torgerson L, Robinson J, Pereira S, Outram S, Koenig BA, Starr PA, Gunduz A, Foote KD, Okun MS, Goodman W, McGuire AL, Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G.
Brain Stimul
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Researcher Views on Changes in Personality, Mood, and Behavior in Next-Generation Deep Brain Stimulation.
Authors: Authors: Zuk P, Sanchez CE, Kostick-Quenet K, Muñoz KA, Kalwani L, Lavingia R, Torgerson L, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Pereira S, Outram S, Koenig BA, McGuire AL, Lázaro-Muñoz G.
AJOB Neurosci
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Clinical and Psychosocial Factors Considered When Deciding Whether to Offer Deep Brain Stimulation for Childhood Dystonia.
Authors: Authors: Torgerson LN, Munoz K, Kostick K, Zuk P, Blumenthal-Barby J, Storch EA, Lázaro-Muñoz G.
Neuromodulation
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Post-trial access in implanted neural device research: Device maintenance, abandonment, and cost.
Authors: Authors: Lázaro-Muñoz G, Pham MT, Muñoz KA, Kostick-Quenet K, Sanchez CE, Torgerson L, Robinson J, Pereira S, Outram S, Koenig BA, Starr PA, Gunduz A, Foote KD, Okun MS, Goodman W, McGuire AL, Zuk P.
Brain Stimul
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Research Comparing iPSC-Derived Neural Organoids to Ex Vivo Brain Tissue of Postmortem Donors: Identity After Life?
Authors: Authors: Zuk P, Stertz L, Walss-Bass C, Lázaro-Muñoz G.
AJOB Neurosci
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Commercialization, Consent, and the Neural Device Industry.
Authors: Authors: Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G.
AJOB Neurosci
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Researchers' Ethical Concerns About Using Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation for Enhancement.
Authors: Authors: Kostick-Quenet K, Kalwani L, Koenig B, Torgerson L, Sanchez C, Munoz K, Hsu RL, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Outram S, Pereira S, McGuire A, Zuk P, Lazaro-Munoz G.
Front Hum Neurosci
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Pressing ethical issues in considering pediatric deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Authors: Authors: Muñoz KA, Kostick K, Torgerson L, Zuk P, Kalwani L, Sanchez C, Blumenthal-Barby J, Storch EA, Lázaro-Muñoz G.
Brain Stimul
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Disorders of Consciousness and Theories of Well-Being.
Authors: Authors: Zuk P.
AJOB Neurosci
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Operationalizing Agency in Brain Computer Interface (BCI) Research.
Authors: Authors: Kostick K, Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G.
AJOB Neurosci
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Zuk P, Sanchez CE, Kostick-Quenet K, Muñoz KA, Kalwani L, Lavingia R, Torgerson L, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Pereira S, Outram S, Koenig BA, McGuire AL, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (Forthcoming). Researcher Views on Changes in Personality, Mood, and Behavior in Next-Generation Deep Brain Stimulation. AJOB Neuroscience.   

Kostick-Quenet K, Kalwani L, Koenig BA, Torgerson L, Sanchez CE, Muñoz KA, Hsu RL, Sierra-Mercado D, Jill Oliver Robinson, Outram S, Pereira S, McGuire A, Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (Forthcoming). Researchers’ Ethical Concerns about using Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation (aDBS) for Enhancement. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.   

Outram S, Muñoz KA, K Kostick-Quenet, Sanchez CE, Kalwani L, Lavingia R, Torgerson L, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Pereira S, Koenig BA, Starr PA, Gunduz A, Foote KD, Okun MS, Goodman WK, McGuire AL, Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2021). Patient, Caregiver, and Decliner Perspectives on Whether to Enroll in Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation Research. Frontiers in Neuroscience 15: 734182.  

Zuk, P. (2021). Disorders of Consciousness and Theories of Well-Being. AJOB Neuroscience 12(2-3): 165-167.   

Kostick K, Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2021). Operationalizing Agency in Brain Computer Interface (BCI) Research. AJOB Neuroscience 12(2-3): 203-205.   

Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2021). Treatment Search Fatigue and Informed Consent.  AJOB Neuroscience 12(1): 77-79.  

Sharma A, Zuk P (equal contributions), Scott CT. (2020). Scientific and Ethical Uncertainties in Brain Organoid Research.  American Journal of Bioethics 21(1): 48-51.  

Zuk P, Sanchez C, Kostick K, Torgerson L, Muñoz KA, Hsu R, Kalwani L, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Outram S, Koenig BA, Pereira S, McGuire AL, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2020). Researcher Perspectives on Data Sharing in Deep Brain Stimulation.  Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 14: 578687.   

Muñoz KA, Kostick K, Sanchez C, Kalwani L, Torgerson L, Hsu R, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Outram S, Koenig BA, Pereira S, McGuire AL, Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2020). Researcher Perspectives on Ethical Considerations in Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation Trials. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 14: 578695.  

Majumder MA, Zuk P, McGuire AL. (2020). Medical Information Commons.  Routledge Handbook of the Study of the Commons. Hudson B, Rosenbloom J, Cole D (eds.). Routledge, 281-293.  

Kostick K, Storch EA, Zuk P, Blumenthal-Barby JS, Torgerson L, Yoshor D, Sheth S, Viswanathan A, Tarakad A, Jimenez-Shahed J, Goodman W, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2020). Strategies to Mitigate Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients Treated with Deep Brain Stimulation. Brain Stimulation 13(6): 1642-1643.   

Sierra-Mercado D, Zuk P (equal contributions), Beauchamp M, Sheth S, Yoshor D, Goodman WK, McGuire AL, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2019). Device Removal Following Brain Implant Research.  Neuron 103(5): 759-761.   

Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2019). DBS and Autonomy: Clarifying the Role of Theoretical Neuroethics.  Neuroethics.  

Lázaro-Muñoz G, Zuk P, Pereira S, Kostick K, Torgerson L, Sierra-Mercado D, Majumder M, Blumenthal-Barby J, Storch EA, Goodman WK, McGuire AL. (2019). Neuroethics at 15: Keep the Kant but Add More Bacon.  AJOB Neuroscience 10(3): 97-100.    

Zuk P, Kostick K, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2019). Could Genetic Enhancement Really Lead to Obsolescence?  American Journal of Bioethics 19(7): 34-36.  

Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2019). Ethical Analysis of ‘Mind Reading’ or ‘Neurotechnological Thought Apprehension’: Keeping Potential Limitations in Mind.  AJOB-Neuroscience 10(1): 32-34.  

Bollinger JM, Zuk P, Majumder MA, Versalovic E, Villanueva AG, Hsu RL, McGuire AL, Cook-Deegan R. (2019). What is a Medical Information Commons?  Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 47(1): 41-50.  

Zuk P, McGuire AL, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2018). Alienation, Quality of Life, and DBS for Depression.  AJOB-Neuroscience 9(4): 223-225.  

Zuk P, Torgerson L, Sierra-Mercado D, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2018). Neuroethics of Neuromodulation: An Update.  Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering 8: 45-50.  

Zuk P. (2018). Mill’s Metaethical Non-Cognitivism.  Utilitas 30(3): 271-293.  

Zuk P. (2015). A Third Version of Constructivism: Rethinking Spinoza’s Metaethics.Philosophical Studies 172(10): 2565-2574.