Judy Illes (Bioethcist, Stanford University)

Judy Illes, Ph.D., is Acting Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Medical Genetics) and Director of the Program in Neuroethics at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. Dr. Illes received her doctorate in Hearing and Speech Sciences from Stanford University in 1987, with a specialization in Experimental Neuropsychology. Dr. Illes returned to Stanford University in 1991 to help build the research enterprise in imaging sciences in the Department of Radiology.  She also co-founded the Stanford Brain Research Center (now the Neuroscience Institute at Stanford), and served as its first Executive Director between 1998 and 2001. 

Today, Dr. Illes directs a strong research team devoted to neuroethics, and issues specifically at the intersection of medical imaging and biomedical ethics. These include ethical, social and legal challenges presented by advanced functional imaging capabilities, the emergence of cognitive enhancement technologies and pharmacology, the commercialization of cognitive neuroscience, clinical findings detected incidentally in research, and stakeholder engagement.  New initiatives in regenerative medicine and international neuroethics are underway. Dr. Illes has written numerous books, edited volumes and articles. She is the author of The Strategic Grant Seeker: Conceptualizing Fundable Research in the Brain and Behavioral Sciences (1999, LEA Publishers, NJ), Special Guest Editor of Topics of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, “Emerging Ethical Challenges in MR Imaging”  (2002), and Brain and Cognition, “Ethical Challenges in Advanced Neuroimaging” (2002.)  Her latest book, Neuroethics: Defining the Issues in Theory, Practice and Policy, was published by Oxford University Press in January 2006. 

Dr. Illes is co-Chair of the Committee on Women in Neuroscience for the Society for Neuroscience, a member of the Internal Advisory Board for the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and a member of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives.