Her research examines the ethical and policy implications of the social determinants of health and social inequalities in health. She is particularly interested in these issues as they relate to U.S. health reform, theories of social justice in public health, the ethics of health promotion, and participatory and deliberative processes of public engagement. After completing her PhD in bioethics at the University of Virginia, Blacksher spent two years as a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at Columbia University and then three years at The Hastings Center as a research scholar for public health ethics and policy.