Biography
Dr. Judy Illes is a professor of neurology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), a UBC Distinguished University Scholar and the director of Neuroethics Canada. She is also faculty in the Centre for Brain Health, the School of Population and Public Health and the School of Journalism at UBC, as well as at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. Dr. Illes received her PhD in hearing and speech sciences and in neuropsychology at Stanford University. Dr. Illes is a pioneer of the field of neuroethics, which was formally established in early 2000.
Dr. Illes is an internationally recognized author, lecturer and mentor. Her research, teaching and outreach initiatives are devoted to ethical, legal, social and policy challenges at the intersection of the brain sciences and biomedical ethics, with a special commitment to exploring and promoting global and cross-cultural issues on this landscape. Among her many service commitments, she currently serves as co-lead of the Canadian Brain Research Strategy, vice chair of the Advisory Board of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Neuroscience, Mental Health and Addiction, and director-at-large of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She is affiliated with the International Brain Initiative and is a member of the Ethics Law and Humanities Committee of the American Academy of Neurology and the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) Task Force on neurorights.
Dr. Illes was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2017. She is a fellow and board member of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and a fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada (Life Sciences) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Neuroscience).
