Judy Illes, Ph.D.
Dr. Illes is Professor of Neurology and Canada Research Chair in Neuroethics at the University of British Columbia. She is Director of the National Core for Neuroethics at UBC, and also holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC and as a Faculty Affiliate of Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Illes is a member of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, co-Founder and Executive Committee member of the Neuroethics Society, and Chair of Women in World Neuroscience for IBRO. Dr. Illes’ research focuses on the ethical, legal, social and policy challenges at the intersection of neuroscience and biomedical ethics, including neuroimaging, commercialization of cognitive neuroscience, and the engagement of key stakeholders on a global scale.
No Child Left Without a Brain Scan?
Toward a Pediatric NeuroethicsWill my baby be born with a normal, healthy brain? Are neurological problems getting in the way of my child’s learning? Does my teenager have any special vulnerability to emotional disorders? Many parents are plagued by worries like these, questions that possibly could be clarified by brain scans. But when is scanning needed? Who should have access to the results? What safeguards are advisable?
A Fish Story? Brain Maps, Lie Detection, and Personhood
Despite progress in technologies such as “brain fingerprinting” and functional magnetic resonance imaging, neuroscientific lie detection is still a long way from commercial reality. For such a capability to be more than a sophisticated form of polygraphy, we must carefully work out our scientific concepts about deception and develop a better understanding of how minds work.