Dr. Anderson is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, and Niehoff School of Nursing. She teaches graduate courses in nursing and bioethics. 

She has a BSN from Southern Illinois University, MSN from Indiana University (Advance Practice Nurse in Internal Medicine, Certified), MA from Loyola University Chicago (Philosophy/Bioethics), and DrPH in public health policy and administration from UIC School of Public Health.  Additionally, she received post-doctoral training in bioethics as a Fellow at the University of Chicago, MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, and served 2 additional years as a Senior Fellow. She is also certified as a healthcare ethics consultant through HCEC Certification Commission.

She was the director of The University of Illinois Health System, Chicago, Clinical Ethics Consult Service for 20 years, and retired from UIC in 2019 after 31 years working in various positions.  She is also a member of the Ethics Committee and provides clinical ethics consultation service to MacNeal Trinity Health Systems in Berwyn and to RML Specialty Hospitals in Hinsdale and Chicago.

She currently serves on the Executive Leadership Task Force for POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment), and works with stakeholders in Illinois to establish the POLST program for the Illinois Department of Public Health. She serves on the leadership of the Unrepresented Patients Project for Illinois (UPPI), a collaborative project of healthcare professionals and other stakeholders in Illinois.

She is active in the Illinois Nursing Foundation as Chief Editor of The Nursing Voice.  Other areas of service include Chair, Illinois Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network Ethics Committee, and Chair, American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Task Force for Core Competencies for Healthcare Ethics Consultation, third edition. She is also a member of the ASBH Clinical Ethics Consultation Affairs Committee. 

Dr. Anderson has published extensively in a variety of medical and bioethics journals. She is a reviewer for several publications, including Critical Care Medicine, American Journal of Bioethics, Critical Care Explorations, AMA Journal of Ethics, Annals of Internal Medicine, Transplantation, BMC, Medical Ethics, Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, Journal of the Rural Healthcare Association, and the Journal of Pediatrics.  She serves as associate editor of the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry. Her current research interests include the identification of endocrine disrupters in medications and the environment, as well as COVID-19 related ethical issues.

Her volunteer activity includes The Night Ministry (Chicago), Chicago Food Depository, The Art Institute of Chicago and Willow Creek Christian Church.