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Professor Cave publishes widely in the field of Health Law, which she teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her research focuses on understanding and shaping the ambits of patient choice and emerging biotechnologies. The seventh edition of her co-authored book (with Professors Margaret Brazier and Rob Heywood)Ìý was published in 2023 and her 2004 monograph on criminalisation of the child born alive was reissued in 2018.

Bridging science and its clinical application, Professor Cave works at the intersection of research and policy to drive meaningful change. Current appointments include

• Member of the
• Member of the to the
• Member of the working group on the

Previous advisory and public body roles include

• 2024-25 Chair of theÌý working group on
• 2022-23 Chair of the Ìý
• 2022-24 under the Conservative government, evaluating in 2024, & in 2023
• 2021-24 Member ofÌý Assurance GroupÌý
• 2019-22 Co-convenor of the of theÌý
• 2018-21 Member of theÌýwhere she was Deputy Chair of the .Ìý

She has contributed to professional guidance on Ìý and .

Professor Cave's recent research projects focus on medical treatment of critically ill children, the adequacy ofÌý(funded by the British Academy) and the implications of the Supreme Court judgmentÌýMontgomery v Lanarkshire Health BoardÌý[2015] on informed consent (funded by the ESRC IAA). She was awarded a in 2018 to produce a on information disclosure.

She served on the University Ethics Advisory Committee 2017-2020, the University Research Committee from 2016-2018, and as Deputy Dean (Research) to the Law School from 2014-2018.

Research Supervision

Professor Cave would be pleased to hear from potential students interested in researching legal and ethical issues relating to emerging biotechnologies, consent and the medical treatment of children.Ìý

Her most recent PhD students research/ed capacity and anorexia nervosa (ESRC funded), the best interests test (AHRC funded) and informed consent to abortion (AHRC funded). Please read the information here andÌýcontact her to arrange for advice on your draft proposal.

• Health law
• Particularly consent, capacity and compulsion

• 2024: : The Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) has started a rapid review project to assess and advise on the ethical and regulatory issues raised by research using human stem cell-based embryo models
• 2023: : The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has announced the creation of an independent Ethics Advisory Group to ensure its UK-wide listening exercise, Every Story Matters, maintains the highest ethical standards. The Group, with expertise in social research ethics and practice, provides an independent review of the design and approach of Every Story Matters and is chaired by David Archard, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Queen’s University Belfast.
• 2022: : The Health and Social Care Committee is a Select Committee of the House of Commons. It has established an Expert Panel to support its work by issuing independent evaluations on specific areas such as Digital Transformation in the NHS (2022) and Pharmacy Services (2023). I am one of the core members, appointed in 2022. For each evaluation additional members with specific expertise join the panel.
• 2021: : The GMC is the independent regulator for medical professionals. The GMC's core guidance, Good Medical Practice, sets out the standards of patient care and professional behaviour expected of all medical professionals registered with the GMC. GMP was last reviewed in 2013. To help the GMC review GMP, an advisory forum was set up comprising 12 experts from outside of the GMC. We met several times over the review period to guide the GMC on specific aspects of the review. A public consultation was held in 2022 and then the new guidance was published in 2023, coming into force in 2024.
• 2021: : The Independent review of gender identity services for children and young people (Cass Review) is chaired by Dr Hilary Cass. The aim of the Cass Review is to ensure that children and young people who are questioning their gender identity or experiencing gender dysphoria, and who need support from the NHS, receive a high standard of care that meets their needs and is safe, holistic and effective. The Assurance group was established to provide expert advice and challenge about the approach and processes used to conduct the review, and to ensure that the Review is conducted in accordance with its terms of reference. The Assurance Group is strictly focused on the governance of the Review and has not been established to inform the outcome and recommendations.
• 2020: : The Infected Blood Inquiry is an independent public statutory Inquiry established to examine the circumstances in which men, women and children treated by national Health Services in the United Kingdom were given infected blood and infected blood products, in particular since 1970. The 130 pp Medical Ethics expert report was published in April 2020. It discusses the ethical principles that should govern and inform clinical decision-making. It was commissioned primarily to inform the Inquiry’s questioning of clinicians in future hearings. The report is based on letters of instruction given to the Group by the Inquiry which had input from core participants. Many of the questions and responses relate to general medical ethics and are not necessarily specific to issues of infected blood and blood products, hepatitis, HIV or blood and bleeding disorders.
• 2018: : The HFEA is the UK’s independent regulator of fertility treatment and research using human embryos. A world-class expert organisation in the fertility sector, the HFEA was the first statutory body of this type in the world. The Statutory Approvals Committee decides what conditions can be tested for using a type of embryo screening called Pre-implantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders (PGT-M) and considers applications for mitochondrial donation treatment and Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) tissue typing. It also issues ‘special directions’, which are rules we can issue to clinics to govern how they import or export sperm, eggs, or embryos or use a new fertility treatment or technique.
• 2017: Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority:
• 2013: :
• 2013: :

Authored book

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  Brazier, M., Cave, E., & Heywood, R. (2023). Medicine, Patients and the Law. MUP.

Chapter in book

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  Cave, E. (in press). Teenage decision making and the law. In J. Brierley, D. Archard, & S. Blackburn (Eds.), Great Ormond Street Hospital Bioethics and Law in Children’s Medicine. Oxford University Press.
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  Cave, E. (in press). Making Reproductive Subjects Visible: The Role and Limits of Consent. In S. Halliday, R. Brione, & J. Nicholls (Eds.), Narratives of Consent and Reproductive Subjects: Tales of Invisibility. Routledge.
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  Cave, E. (in press). Adolescent consent to treatment for gender dysphoria in England and Wales. In J. Miola & L. Austin (Eds.), Research Handbook on Medical Consent. Edward Elgar.
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  Cave, E. (2023). The Warnock Report on Human Fertilisation and Embryology (1984). In S. Fovargue & C. Purshouse (Eds.), Leading Works in Health Law and Ethics. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003146612-6
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  Berg, J., & Cave, E. (2021). Patient autonomy, capacity and consent (children). In T. Hervey & D. Orentlicher (Eds.), Oxford Handbook on Comparative Health Law. Oxford University Press.

Journal Article

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  Cave, E. (2025). Advocating distinct regulatory paths for embryos and embryo-like structures. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 12(1), Article lsaf008. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsaf008
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  Cave, E., & Farsides, B. (2024). The infected blood scandal: lessons for clinical research. BMJ, 385, Article q1205. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q1205
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  Cave, E., Purshouse, C., & Purshouse, J. (2024). Liability For Rugby Related Neuro-Degenerative Disease: A Question of Tort. Journal of Personal Injury Law, 2, 93-112.
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  Archard, D., Cave, E., & Brierley, J. (2024). How should we decide how to treat the child: harm versus best interests in cases of disagreement. Medical Law Review, 32(2), 158–177. https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwad040
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  Brierley, J., Archard, D., & Cave, E. (2023). Involving parents in paediatric clinical ethics committee deliberations: a current controversy. Journal of Medical Ethics, 49(11), 733-736. https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2022-108460
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  Cave, E., & Cave, H. (2023). Skeleton Keys to Hospital Doors: Adolescent Adults who Refuse Life-Sustaining Medical Treatment. Modern Law Review, 86(4), 984-1010. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12798
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  Fuller, S. J., Chapman, S., Cave, E., Druce-Perkins, J., Daniels, P., & Tan, J. (2023). Nasogastric tube feeding under physical restraint on paediatric wards: ethical, legal and practical considerations regarding this lifesaving intervention. BJPsych Bulletin, 47(2), 105-110. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2022.11
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  Cave, E., & McMahon, A. (2023). Should states restrict recipient choice amongst relevant and available COVID-19 vaccines?. Medical Law Review, 31(2), 272-292. https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwac042
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  Dittborn, M., Cave, E., & Archard, D. (2022). Clinical ethics support services during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Medical Ethics, 48(10), 695-701. https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2021-107818
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  Brierley, J., Cave, E., & Archard, D. (2022). Ethical advice in paediatric care. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 107, Article e18. https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2021-322671
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  Cave, E. (2021). Valid consent to medical treatment. Journal of Medical Ethics, 47(12), Article e31. https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2020-106287
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  Brierley, J., Archard, D., & Cave, E. (2021). Challenging misconceptions about clinical ethics support during COVID-19 and beyond: Role, remit and representation. Journal of Medical Ethics, 47(8), 549-552. https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2020-107092
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  Archard, D., Brierley, J., & Cave, E. (2021). Compulsory Childhood Vaccination: Human Rights, Solidarity and Best Interests. Medical Law Review, 29(4), 716-727. https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwab024
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  Cave, E. (2021). Confirmation of the High Court’s Power to Override a Child’s Treatment Decision: A NHS Trust v X (In the matter of X (A Child) (No 2)) [2021] EWHC 65 (Fam). Medical Law Review, 29(3), 537-546. https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwab007

Newspaper/Magazine Article

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  Cave, E. (2024, December 11). Research on embryo models needs soft and hard regulation. Research Fortnight.
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  Cave, E. (2024, May 17). Infected blood scandal – what you need to know.

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

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  Cave, E. (2024, December 2). Futureproofing ethical SCBEM innovation. BioNews [Blog Post].
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  Cave, E. (2024, August 30). How can we regulate embryo model research without stifling it? [Blog Post].
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  Cave, E., & Cave, H. (2023, April 5). Law and policy can do more to address adolescence in early adulthood [Blog Post].
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  Cave, E. (2023, April 3). Ethical Co-Authorship [Blog Post].
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  Cave, E. (2023, March 15). Mother-daughter writing [Blog Post].
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  Cave, E. (2022, April 26). Laurie’s Legacy [Blog Post].
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  Brierley, J., Archard, D., & Cave, E. (2021). Clinical ethics support: Addressing legal uncertainties [Journal of Medical Ethics Blog].

Report

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  Human stem cell-based embryo models: A review of ethical and governance questions. (2024).. Nuffield Council on Bioethics.
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  Health and Social Care Committee Independent Expert Panel. (2024). Evaluation of the Government’s progress on meeting patient safety recommendations. HC 362. UK Parliament.
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  Health and Social Care Committee Independent Expert Panel. (2024). Evaluation of the Government’s commitments in the area of pharmacy in England. HC1310. UK Parliament.
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  Health and Social Care Committee Independent Expert Panel. (2023). Evaluation of Government Commitments made on the digitisation of the NHS. HC 780. UK Parliament.
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  Cave, E., Farsides, B., Kazarian, M., Kerridge, I., & Savulescu, J. (2020). Expert Report to the Infected Blood Inquiry: Medical Ethics. Infected Blood Inquiry.