Trailblazing at the interface of brains, ethics, AI and technology

About our Speaker

Dr. Judy Illes is Professor of Neurology at the University of British Columbia, UBC Distinguished University Scholar, Distinguished Professor of Neuroethics, and Director of Neuroethics Canada. She is faculty in UBC’s Centre for Brain Health, the School of Population and Public Health and the School of Journalism. Dr. Illes also holds an appointment as a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University. She received her PhD in Hearing and Speech Sciences, and in Neuropsychology at Stanford University. Dr. Illes is a pioneer of the field of neuroethics through which she has made groundbreaking contributions to ethical, legal, social and policy challenges at the intersection of the brain sciences and biomedical ethics. She is deeply committed to advancing the alignment of human values with science and policy and has done so over the past 25 years in leadership roles in Canada and abroad. Today she is vice chair of the new Bioethics Council for Canada, immediate past chair of the International Brain Initiative, a member of the Ethics and Society Committee of EBRAINS – Europe’s largest neuroscience infrastructure – and a member of the Ethics Law and Humanities Committee of the American Academy of Neurology among other organizations. She has also recently served as Canada’s designate to UNESCO on the ethics of neurotechnology, and as an academic and expert advisor to Health Canada, the World Health Organization, the OECD, and Amnesty International. Dr. Illes was awarded the Order of Canada in 2017.