Teresa Maria Stella Zagra is a PhD Candidate in Civil Law at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, where she earned her law degree. She is currently pursuing doctoral research into healthcare decision-making, with particular attention to the representation of minors and adults lacking capacity. Her project seeks to clarify, within the Italian legal framework, the role of surrogate decision-makers and the decision-making standards governing treatment decisions involving such patients, in light of constitutional principles and with the aid of a comparative approach. Her research interests include civil law, family and juvenile civil law, health law and bioethics, and comparative law. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law in Washington, DC, and was previously a Visiting Researcher at the School of Law, The University of Sheffield, in the United Kingdom. She holds the qualification to practice law in Italy.
