Edward J. Furton, MA, PhD
Director of Publications and Ethicist
215-871-2008 | efurton@ncbcenter.org
Edward J. Furton has served as the NCBC Director of Publications since August 1997. He is the founding editor of The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly which first appeared in Spring of 2001. He is also the longest serving editor of Ethics & Medics, a monthly commentary on health care and the life sciences, in continuous publication since 1976. These serials are the standard bearers for Catholic bioethical thought in the United States and have hosted award-winning authors on subjects ranging from abortion to xenotransplantation.
He is responsible for the production of books on contemporary topics in Catholic bioethics, most notably, Catholic Health Care Ethics: A Manual for Practitioners. The NCBC webstore offers close to twenty active titles, including The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Seventh Edition, 2025. Also available are guides on end-of-life decision-making, palliative care and hospice, and physician orders for life-sustaining treatments. Many of these titles are also available through The Catholic University of America Press.
Dr. Furton received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in philosophy from The Catholic University of America. He has taught at St. Charles Borromeo Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and at various Catholic colleges on the East Coast and in the Midwest. He has written on stem cell research, reproductive technologies, vaccine use, brain death, organ donation, physician-assisted suicide, and other topics.
He regularly gives presentations on complex problems in cooperation and is especially interested in scholasticism, its method of reasoning, and its role within the Catholic intellectual tradition.
Dr. Furton lives in Philadelphia with his wife and has five children.