[2] Her research focuses on topics such as ageing, death, medical ethics, and sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
[10][6] While a lecturer,[citation needed] she finished a diploma in European Health Policies in 1993 at the Seminary in Nancy, followed by a Habilitation in Ethics and Moral Theology at University of Strasbourg in 1998.
[6] Her habilitation thesis was called "Atouts de l'éthique systématique" (Assets of Systematic Ethics), which would inform her academic focus moving forward.
[citation needed] Thiel joined the Faculty of Catholic Theology at Strasbourg in 1999, where she quickly established an interdisciplinary program in ethics.
Her work as a physician and a theologian meant she was approached by sexual abuse victims; this inspired her to look more deeply at the issue.
[12][4][11] In 2017, her work led Pope Francis to appoint her a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life as part of the organisation's reform.