Faculty Expert Profile

Travis Rieder's primary research concerns ethical and policy issues surrounding America’s opioid epidemic. He is the author of the 2019 HarperCollins book, "In Pain: A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle with Opioids."

The book grew out of a 2017 essay Rieder published in Health Affairs titled "In Opioid Withdrawal, With No Help in Sight." An essay adapted from the book appeared in The Wall Street Journal.

Rieder was also featured in a National Public Radio report that delved into the details of his book, which focused on his struggles with physical opioid dependency. He developed the dependency after taking pain medications for a surgery on his left foot following a motorcycle accident. In addition, Rieder appeared on MSNBC to discuss his personal experience and why it is important to understand the complexity of opioid medications.

His other focus is ethics and policy questions about sustainability and planetary limits. Much of this research has been on issues in climate change ethics and procreative ethics with a particular focus on the intersection of the two – that is, on the question of responsible procreation in the era of climate change.