Leadership

Board of Directors

The INS Board consists of 15 members, who serve 3-year terms, with five seats up for nomination each year. Board candidates are selected by the Nominating Committee following nominations from the membership with final decisions made by the current Board. Terms end and begin at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.

Hank Greely

INS President (2018–2019)
Stanford University

Hank Greely is the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and Professor by courtesy, of Genetics at Stanford University. He specializes in ethical, legal and social issues arising from advances in the biosciences, particularly from neuroscience, genetics and human stem cell research. Greely directs the Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences and the program on Neuroscience in Society.

Nita Farahany

President Elect (2020-2021)
Duke Law School
Duke Initiative for Science & Society

Nita Farahany, JD, PhD is a leading scholar on the ethical, legal, and social implications of biosciences and emerging technologies. She is the Founding Director of Duke Science & Society, the Duke MA in Bioethics & Science Policy, and a Professor of Law & Philosophy. In 2010, she was appointed by President Obama to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.

Ilina Singh

Secretary/Treasurer 
University of Oxford

Ilina Singh, MA EdD, is Professor of Neuroscience and Society at the University of Oxford, where she holds a joint appointment between the Department of Psychiatry and the Faculty of Philosophy (Oxford Centre for Neuroethics and Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics). Her work examines the psychosocial and ethical implications of advances in biomedicine and neuroscience for young people and families.

Jennifer Chandler

University of Ottawa

Jennifer Chandler studies the legal and ethical aspects of biomedical science and technology, with focuses on mental health law, law and neuroscience and neuroethics. She is the co-editor of the recent book Law and Mind: Mental Health Law and Policy in Canada (2016) and holds the Bertram Loeb Research Chair in the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, University of Ottawa.

Moheb Costandi

Neuroscience Writer

Moheb Costandi is a molecular and developmental neurobiologist turned freelance science writer based in London. He writes news stories and feature articles for print and the web, and is the author of the Neurophilosophy blog, hosted by the Guardian. Costandi is also the author of 50 Human Brain Ideas You Really Need to Know (Quercus, 2013) and Neuroplasticity, (MIT Press, 2016).

Joseph J. Fins

Weill Cornell Medical College

Joseph J. Fins, MD MACP is The E. William Davis, Jr. M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics and Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College. Fins is a Past President of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and former Governor of the American College of Physicians.

Steven Hyman

Founding President (2008-2014)
Broad Institute of Harvard / MIT

Steven E. Hyman, MD is the Director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute and is the Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. Hyman is the Editor of the Annual Review of Neuroscience and the founding president of the International Neuroethics Society.

Judy Illes

INS Past President (2016–2017)
University of British Columbia

Judy Illes is Professor of Neurology and Canada Research Chair in Neuroethics at the University of British Columbia. She is Director of UBC's National Core for Neuroethics and a faculty member in the Brain Research Centre and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. Dr. Illes conducts research at the intersection of biomedical ethics and the neurosciences, including the integration of cross-cultural perspectives on brain health and well-being, and advises on major policy issues.

Thomas R. Insel

Mindstrong Health

Thomas R. Insel, MD, is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist focused on improving mental health through rigorous, measurement-base care as co-founder and President of Mindstrong. He is also known for his research on oxytocin and vasopressin. He served as director of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health from 2002-2015 and was founding director of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience in Atlanta.

Debra JH Mathews

Johns Hopkins University

Debra JH Mathews, PhD MA, is the Assistant Director for Science Programs at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, in the School of Medicine. Mathews's academic work focuses on ethics and policy issues raised by emerging biotechnologies, with particular focus on genetics, stem cell science, and neuroscience.

Helen Mayberg

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Helen Mayberg, MD is Director of the Center of Advanced Circuit Therapeutics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai Professor of Neurotherapeutics. Her research has characterized neural systems mediating major depression and its recovery, defined brain-based illness subtypes to optimize treatment selection, and introduced the first use of deep brain stimulation for treatment resistant patients.

Ed Rover

Dana Foundation

Edward F Rover, JD is Chairman and CEO of the Dana Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that supports brain research and educates the public about brain research. Until 2003, he was a senior partner at White & Case, L.L.P. in New York where he was active in the representation of tax-exempt organizations.

Barbara Sahakian

INS Past President (2014–2015)
Stanford University

Barbara J Sahakian is Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, and Honourary Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She has an international reputation in the fields of cognitive psychopharmacology, neuroethics, neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry and neuroimaging.

Paul Root Wolpe

Emory University

Paul Root Wolpe is the Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory, the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Bioethics, and the Raymond F. Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair in Jewish Bioethics. His teaching and publications include death and dying, genetics and eugenics, sexuality and gender, mental health and illness, alternative medicine, and bioethics in extreme environments such as space.

Representative to the Board

Marcello Ienca

Student/Postdoc Representative (2016–2019)
ETH Zurich

Marcello Ienca, PhD is a postdoctoral researcher at the Health Ethics & Policy Lab, Department of Health Sciences and Technology at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. His research focuses on the ethics and governance of biomedical data, ethically aligned artificial intelligence and responsible innovation for emerging technologies at the human–machine interface.

Staff

Elaine Snell

Chief Operating Officer
[email protected]
@ElaineSnell12

Elaine, based in London, UK, has worked in science communications for many years with universities, learned societies and non-profit organisations, especially in brain research. Elaine was the Chief Executive of the British Neuroscience Association, Public Relations Manager at Wellcome Trust and most recently, Media Relations Manager at the new Francis Crick Institute in London.

Karen Graham

Executive Director
[email protected]
301-229-1660

Karen's background includes more than a decade on Capitol Hill, public relations in two associations (both non-profit and as a registered lobbyist). Most recently, Karen organized and managed public programs and events, designed educational materials, and promoted ongoing relationships with national health organizations for the Dana Foundation.

Robert Beets

Website / Communications Director
[email protected]
[email protected]
@sciencebeets

Robert Beets is a science communication consultant living in Saint Paul, MN, USA. Graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Life Science Communication department, he has advanced the communication practices of a wide range of organizations working in the fields of health, agriculture, forestry, education, and others. (Please send website-related questions to the [email protected] email account.)

Ian Stevens

Intern
[email protected]

Ian Stevens is pursuing his BS & BA at Northern Arizona University where he was the President of Heshima Bioethics Society. His research experience includes an Internship at the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, a student researcher at the Hastings Center, and a visiting scholar of the ARC Center for Excellence for Electromaterials in Wollongong, Australia.