The Nominating Committee identifies and recruits individuals to serve on the Board of Directors and for the office of President, President-Elect, and Student/Postdoc Representative. The committee also reviews nominations provided by the membership, and writes a recommendation regarding the finalist candidates to the INS Board prior to their vote by secret ballot to determine appointments.
Members
- Philipp Kellmeyer, co-chair
- Tom Buller, co-chair
- Nathan Higgins
- Kristin Kostick-Quenet
- Olivia Matshabane
- Michelle Pham
- Jada Wiggleton-Little
Profiles
Co-Chairs
Philipp Kellmeyer
University of Mannheim / University Medical Center Freiburg
Philipp Kellmeyer, MD, MPhil, is the head of the Neuroethics and AI Ethics Lab at the University Medical Center Freiburg. 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.
Tom Buller
Illinois State University
Tom Buller is Professor of Philosophy at Illinois State University. His research focuses on neurotechnology and agency.
Members
Nathan Higgins
Monash University
Nathan Higgins is a PhD student at the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health at Monash University in Australia. His work focuses on the responsible research and innovation of neurotechnologies, with a specific emphasis on ethical issues related to post-trial access to implantable neural devices. Nathan is currently employed full-time as a research assistant at the Monash Bioethics Centre, where he is a member of a core team engaged in a Wellcome Trust-funded horizon scan of bioethical issues in anxiety, depression, and psychosis research. He completed his undergraduate and honours degrees at the University of Melbourne, majoring in Neuroscience.
Serving as the Student/Postdoc Committee Representative
Kristin Kostick-Quenet
Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy
Baylor College of Medicine
Kristin Kostick-Quenet, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. A bioethicist and medical anthropologist, her neuroethics research examines the ethical, social, and cultural dimensions of emerging neurotechnologies, with a focus on closed-loop and adaptive systems in deep brain stimulation, including the integration of digital sensors and wearable monitoring into brain-computer interfaces. Her work also addresses ethical challenges in adaptive and pediatric neuromodulation, disorders of consciousness, and the responsible translation of AI and machine learning tools into clinical decision-making. She has published on topics spanning trust criteria for AI in healthcare, consent frameworks for digital behavioral markers, and computational approaches to data governance and privacy.
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.
Michelle Pham
Michigan State University
Michelle T. Pham is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Bioethics and Social Justice and the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University. Her research interests including: post-trial care obligations, exploitation concerns in neural device research with human participants, rethinking what it means to conduct engaged research in neuroethics to include community-engaged research, and the role of institutions like IRBs to promote ethical implantable neural device research.
Jada Wiggleton-Little
The Ohio State University
Jada Wiggleton-Little, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University and is an affiliated faculty member of OSU’s Center for Ethics and Human Values. Her research examines disparities in pain management, particularly the barriers to effective pain communication. She also sits on the editorial board for the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal.
Appointments
Learn more about committee appointments if you are interested in volunteering to serve on this committee or others.