Born Emma Pickworth,she attended Lady Manners School,a state secondary school in Bakewell.[4] She went on to complete an LLB,M.Jur and PhD.
Career
Cave took up a research fellowship at the Centre for Professional Ethics,UCLan in 1998,continuing her PhD part time. She moved to the University of Manchester in 2001 and was given a lectureship at the University of Leeds in 2001. She was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2008,took up a readership at Durham University in 2013 and became a professor of law in 2016.
Advisory roles
Cave has provided expert advice to the UK government,public inquiries,independent policy &research centres and medical professional bodies.
On emerging biotechnologies she chaired a Nuffield Council on Bioethics working group on Stem Cell-Based Embryo Models in 2024,reporting on the scientific and ethical issues the new technology raises and setting out governance proposals.[5][6] She was subsequently appointed to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics working group reviewing the 14-Day Rule for Embryo Culture in 2025[7]. She previously served as a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority,where she was Deputy Chair of the Statutory Approvals Committee.[8]
On public inquiries,Cave was a member of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry ethics advisory group to advise on their 'Every Story Matters' research.[15][16] And with Professor Bobbie Farsides,she co-convened the Medical Ethics expert group to the UK Infected Blood Inquiry,[17][18] producing a report[19] and giving evidence to the Inquiry.[20]
Media interviews in print,radio and television include the BBC,[21][22] CNN[23],Lancet,[24] FullFact[25] and ITV’s Exposure.[26]
Publications
With Margaret Brazier,Cave has co-authored Medicine,Patients and the Law,since the 4th edition. Brazier and Cave were joined by Rob Heywood for the 7th edition in 2023.[1]
Cave’s research bridges scientific developments and clinical applications across the life span[27]. On embryo research her research she has set out proposals for the regulation of emerging biotechnologies[28]. Her comparative monograph The Mother of All Crimes considers the moral status of the fetus and how this translates into criminal law[29].
In relation to the treatment of young children,she has (with David Archard and Joe Brierley) argued in favour of the best interests test and against arguments for a new threshold of significant harm that would give parents extended decision-making powers.[30][31][32]
Cave has published extensively on consent of children and adolescents,identifying problems with the legal concept of child competence (Gillick competence) and suggesting solutions to them [33][34]. She has also engaged with the complexities of treating adolescents with eating disorders[35].
On informed consent of adults,she argued for the importance of protecting patient autonomy by limiting the role of the therapeutic privilege[36] but also for an approach that recognises and upholds the role of clinicians in supporting patients and working with them in partnership[37].
Cave also has a strong interest in supporting ethical medical decision making. Her research considers the role and remit of research[38] and clinical ethics committees[39]. During the COVID-19 pandemic she published advice on super-spreaders[40] vaccine choice[41],clinical standards[42] and clinical ethics support[43].
↑ E Cave (2014) Goodbye Gillick? Identifying and resolving Problems with the Concept of Child Competence. Legal Studies, 34(1), 103-122. https://doi.org/10.1111/lest.12009
↑ E Cave and J Tan (2017) Severe and Enduring Anorexia Nervosa in the England and Wales Court of Protection. International Journal of Mental Health and Capacity Law, 23(17), 4-24. https://doi.org/10.19164/ijmhcl.v2017i23.629
↑ Cave, E. (2017). The Ill-Informed: Consent to Medical Treatment and the Therapeutic Exception. Common Law World Review, 46(2), 140-168. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473779517709452
↑ Cave, E. (2020). Selecting Treatment Options and Choosing Between them: Delineating Patient and Professional Autonomy in Shared Decision-Making. Health Care Analysis, 28, 4-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-019-00384-8
↑ E Cave (née Pickworth) (2000). Should Local Research Ethics Committees Monitor Research they have Approved? Journal of Medical Ethics, 26(5), 330-333. https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.26.5.330
↑ J Brierley, D Archard and E Cave (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
↑ E Cave and A McMahon (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
↑ C Tomkins, C Purshouse, R Heywood, J Miola, E Cave and S Devaney (2020) Head to Head: Should doctors tackling covid-19 be immune from negligence liability claims?. British Medical Journal, 2020(370), Article m2487. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2487
↑ J Brierley, D Archard and E Cave (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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