The INS Board of Directors consists of 15 members, who serve 3-year terms, with five seats up for nomination each year. Candidates for the Board are selected by the Nominating Committee following nominations from the membership. Appointments are then made by current members of the Board.
Members
- Marcello Ienca, President
- Debra JH Mathews, Immediate Past President
- Anna Wexler, Treasurer
- Diego Borbón, Student/Postoc Representative
- Tim Brown
- Laura Cabrera
- Adrian Carter
- Winston Chiong
- Veljko Dubljevic
- Tamami Fukushi
- Nathan Higgins, Student/Postoc Representative
- Philipp Kellmeyer
- Karola Kreitmair
- Olivia Matshabane
- Reina Magistro Nadler
- Nicole Martinez-Martin
- José M. Muñoz
- Laura Specker Sullivan
Outgoing (April 2026)
Updates
- New and returning appointees to the INS Board in 2026 – June 1, 2026
- Professor Ienca selected to be the next INS President – July 31, 2025
Profiles
Marcello Ienca
INS President
Technical University of Munich
Marcello Ienca, PhD, is the Professor of Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, and Deputy Director of the Institute of History and Ethics in Medicine at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), in Germany. Ienca conducts research on the ethically sustainable development of AI systems and neurotechnologies. He uses theoretical and empirical methods to investigate the ethical, social, legal and political implications of these technologies focusing on topics such as the brain-machine interface, the relationship between AI and human cognition, and the ethical processing of big data.
Debra JH Mathews
INS Immediate Past President
Johns Hopkins University
Debra JH Mathews, PhD MA, is the Associate Director for Research and Programs at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and Professor in the Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University 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, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence.
Anna Wexler
INS Treasurer
University of Pennsylvania
Anna Wexler is an assistant professor in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. As principal investigator of the Wexler Lab, her research examines the ethical, legal, and social issues surrounding emerging technology, with a focus on neurotechnology, do-it-yourself, and direct-to-consumer medicine and science.
Tim Brown
University of Washington
Tim Brown, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine. His research examines the impact of therapeutic neurotechnology on user experiences of agency, as well as the social justice challenges that arise from fundamental neurobiology research.
Laura Cabrera
Pennsylvania State University
Laura Y. Cabrera, MA, PhD, is an associate professor within the department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Pennsylvania State University. Her work focuses on the ethical and societal implications of advances in neurotechnology, Latino’s views about Alzheimer’s disease, and the timing of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease.
Adrian Carter
Monash University
Adrian Carter is Professor of Neuroethics and Australian Research Council Future Fellow on the responsible innovation of neuroscience. He leads the Neuroscience and Society Group at the Monash Bioethics Centre and is an Adjunct Fellow of the School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University. Adrian has been an advisor to the WHO, OECD, EU, and UN, and is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Neuroethics.
Winston Chiong
University of California, San Francisco
Winston Chiong, MD PhD is the Mary Oakley Foundation Professor in Neuroethics in the University of California, San Francisco Department of Neurology, and is Director of UCSF Bioethics. His clinical practice focuses on Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders of aging. His research addresses the neural bases of decision-making in the aging brain, and the ethical and health equity implications of alterations to brain function.
Veljko Dubljević
North Carolina State University
Veljko Dubljević, Ph.D., D.Phil., is a University Faculty Scholar and Professor of Philosophy and STS (Science, Technology and Society) at NC State University, where he also leads the NeuroComputational Ethics Research Group. He is the Editor-in-Chief of American Journal of Bioethics – Neuroscience, and series co-editor for “Advances in Neuroethics”. He is a prolific author in Neuroethics and Ethics of AI, having published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and five books.
Tamami Fukushi
Tokyo Online University
Tamami Fukushi, PhD is a Professor at the Faculty of Human Welfare, Tokyo Online University. Her current interest in neuroethics is Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in addition to ethics education of advanced technology of neuroscience in the context of engineering ethics, science policy and regulatory science. She is a member of the Ethics Committee of the Japan Neuroscience Society, International Advisory Council at Centro Internacional de Neurociencia y Ética (CINET) and of the panel of Center for Neurotechnology and Law, by drawing on her research experience in cognitive neuroscience as well as in science policy and research on research.
Philipp Kellmeyer
University of Mannheim
Philipp Kellmeyer, MD, MPhil, is the Juniorprofessor for Responsible AI and Digital Health at the University of Mannheim. His work involves the use of novel brain–computer interfaces for severely paralyzed patients, and his interests include neurology, cognitive neuroscience, neurotechnology, neuroethics and AI ethics, human–AI interaction, and XR technologies.
Karola Kreitmair
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Karola Kreitmair, PhD, MSc, HEC-C is an Associate Professor of Medical History and Bioethics and an Affiliate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is Co-Chair of the University of Wisconsin Hospital Ethics Committee and Co-Director of the Path of Distinction in Bioethics at UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Her work focuses on AI in health care, consciousness and moral status, and ethical issues arising from direct-to-consumer digital behavioral technology.
Reina Magistro Nadler
University of British Columbia
Reina Magistro Nadler, JD, is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia’s Allard School of Law, having completed her law degree at Stanford and her undergraduate philosophy studies at Harvard. Her dissertation research focuses on neuroscience and neurotechnology in legal systems, with an emphasis on democratic values. In addition to neurolaw scholarship, her writing increasingly offers a transgender perspective on brain science, feminist philosophy, and technology ethics.
Nicole Martinez-Martin
Stanford University
Nicole Martinez-Martin is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Center of Biomedical Ethics at Stanford University. Her background is in law, social sciences, and comparative human development. Her research interests include the examination of the impact of new technologies on marginalized populations, with a focus on equity and privacy. Her recent work in bioethics and neuroethics has centered on the ethics of AI and digital health technology, with grant-funded projects on digital phenotyping, digital mental health tools, and ambient intelligence.
Olivia Matshabane
Stellenbosch University
Olivia Matshabane, PhD MA, is a Neuroethics Researcher and PI of the Africa Neuroethics Research Group, through which she leads a multi-country team focused on community-engaged cross-cultural neuroethics in Africa. Her research interests are in mental health, ethics of neuropsychiatric genomics, Indigenous methodologies and community-engaged cross-cultural neuroethics.
José M. Muñoz
International Neurotechnology Governance Observatory (INEGOV)
International Center for Neuroscience and Ethics (CINET)
José M. Muñoz, PhD, is Founding Director of the International Neurotechnology Governance Observatory (INEGOV), based at the International Center for Neuroscience and Ethics (Spain). His work focuses on the ethical, legal, and social implications of neurotechnology, with a particular emphasis on global governance. He has held research positions at Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Navarra, and has advised or spoken for institutions including the United Nations, INTERPOL, the Organization of American States, the Government of Spain, the Royal Spanish Academy, and several national parliaments.
Laura Specker Sullivan
Fordham University
Laura Specker Sullivan, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Fordham University in New York City and a Bioethics Consultant at Montefiore Medical Center. Her research interests include autonomy, trust, and consent; the ethics of digital technology and neurotechnology; Buddhist and Japanese philosophy; and the ethicist’s role in medicine, science and technology. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities (United States).
Nathan Higgins
Monash University
Nathan Higgins is a postdoctoral research fellow with the Monash Bioethics Centre. Nathan’s work explores the responsible research and innovation of neurotechnologies, primarily neurosurgical systems such as brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and deep brain stimulation (DBS). His doctoral work examined the problem of post-trial responsibility in clinical trials of implantable brain-based devices. At Macquarie University, Nathan is working on a project investigating public attitudes towards voluntary-assisted dying legislation in Australia. He has served as the Chair of the International Neuroethics Society’s Student & Postdoc Committee since 2023, and is currently the Managing Editor of the journal Neuroethics.
Diego Borbón
Universidad Externado de Colombia
Red Iberoamericana de Neuroderecho y Neuroética
Diego Borbón was appointed as one of the youngest Professors at the Faculty of Law of the Universidad Externado de Colombia, where he teaches Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence and Law at the Center for Studies on Genetics and Law, where he is also the PI and Director of the Research Group in Biological Sciences and Law. Affiliate and former Fellow at the University of Zurich’s Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, as winner of the Stehr-Boldt Award in Biomedical Ethics. He is a lawyer, criminal defense attorney, and consultant in public law. Holds a JD, MSc in Legal Psychology, MPhil in Philosophy and is a PhD candidate in Philosophy. Master’s student in Applied Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London. Founder of the Red Iberoamericana de Neuroderecho y Neuroética, a comprehensive network of Ibero-American scholars in neurolaw and neuroethics. Has served since 2022 in different roles and appointments for the International Neuroethics Society.
Outgoing Members (April 2026)
Eric Racine
Montreal Clinical Research Institute
Eric Racine, PhD, is research professor and director of the Pragmatic Health Ethics Research Unit at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) with additional appointments at University of Montreal and McGill University. He is a leading international researcher in bioethics with recognized contributions to the development of neuroethics and pragmatic ethics. Inspired by philosophical pragmatism, his research aims to bring to the forefront the lived experience of ethically problematic situations by patients and stakeholders and then to resolve them collaboratively through deliberative and evidence-informed processes.
Arleen Salles
Institute of Neuroethics
Neuroética Buenos Aires
Arleen Salles, PhD, MA, is Chief Research Officer at the Institute of Neuroethics (IoNx) and director of Neuroética Buenos Aires (NEBA) in Argentina. Before IoNx, she was a senior researcher at Uppsala University and lead of the Neuroethics and Engagement Task in the European Human Brain Project. Her current research interests include the conceptual, ethical, and social issues raised by neuroscientific research and by the design, development, and deployment of neurotechnologies and other disruptive technologies, with a particular interest in culturally situated approaches to governance and innovation.
Former Members
Past Presidents
- Debra JH Mathews (2023-2026)
- Joseph J. Fins (2021-2023)
- Nita Farahany (2019–2021)
- Henry T. Greely (2017–2019)
- Judy Illes (2016 and 2017)
- Barbara Sahakian (2014–2016)
- Steven E. Hyman (2008–2014)