- Assistant Research Professor
Berman Institute of Bioethics - Civic Science Fellow
Berman Institute of Bioethics
Lomax Boyd’s research focuses on the scientific and ethical questions raised by experimental models of the human brain, including human brain organoids, engrafted organoids, human brain chimeras, and genetically engineered nonhuman animals. His scientific studies into the genetic mechanisms regulating human brain size evolution and development has provoked curiosity and wonder about how we come to understanding human distinctiveness, but also raised ethical questions about how to seek, understand, and incorporate public epistemologies in discovery science.
Previously, Lomax served as a Civic Science Fellow examining the ethical issues raised by human brain organoid technology. He has been funded by the Kavli Foundation to further study how epistemic or metaphysical belief systems influence public attitudes toward science. With support from the Dana Foundation, Dr. Boyd also develops pathways for neuroscience trainees to engage with social and ethical issues raised, or informed, by their research.
His current research seeks to identify convergent pathways for resolving scientific and ethical questions regarding models of the human brain. Previously, Dr. Boyd conducted his postdoctoral research in the evolution of human speech and language circuits at The Rockefeller University after receiving his PhD in neurogenetics from Duke University.
Research Interests
- Evolution and development of human brain traits
- Ethical and scientific assessment of human brain models (organoids, chimeras, genetically-modified)
- Embedding ethics in neuroscientific training
- Values-based public engagement with science
- Moral attitudes toward science
Education
- Postdoctoral Training
The Rockefeller University, Laboratory for Neurobiology of Speech and Language - Ph.D., Genetics and Genomics
Duke University - M.S., Biology
College of William & Mary - B.S., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Richmond
Recent Publications
Lomax Boyd. An ‘enriched’ paradigm for scientific and ethical inquiries of human brain chimeras. Molecular Psychology. In review
Lomax Boyd and Nethanel Lipshitz. Moral and Conscious Assessment of Human Brain Organoids. Neuroethics. In review
Hartung T, Smirnova L, Morales Pantoja IE, Akwaboah A, Alam El Din D-M, Berlinicke CA, Boyd JL, et al. The Baltimore declaration toward the exploration of organoid intelligence. Front Sci (2023) 1:1068159. doi: 10.3389/fsci.2023.1068159
Smirnova L, Caffo BS, Gracias DH, Huang Q, Morales Pantoja IE, Tang B, Zack DJ, Berlinicke CA, Boyd JL, et al. Organoid intelligence (OI): the new frontier in biocomputing and intelligence-in-a-dish. Front Sci (2023) 1:1017235. doi: 10.3389/fsci.2023.1017235
Lomax Boyd & Jeremy Sugarman, Toward Responsible Public Engagement in Neuroethics. AJOB Neuroscience. 2022
Vasiliki Stoumpou, César D. M. Vargas, Peter F. Schade, Theodoros Giannakopoulos, J. Lomax Boyd, Erich D. Jarvis. Analysis of Mouse Vocal Communication (AMVOC): A deep, unsupervised method for rapid detection, analysis, and classification of ultrasonic vocalizations. BioAcoustics, 2022
Boyd, J. Lomax and Wray, Britt, Engaging and Co-authoring with Science Publics Online: Interactive Documentaries as Emergent Models of Science Communication. SSRN. 2018.
Lomax Boyd, Stephanie L. Skove, Jeremy P. Rouanet, Louis-Jan Pilaz, Tristan Bepler, Raluca Gordan, Gregory A. Wray, Debra L. Silver. Human-chimpanzee differences in a FZD8 enhancer alter cell cycle dynamics in the developing neocortex. Current Biology. 2015.
Boyd, J. Lomax, and Wray, Gregory A. Evolution of Human Gene Expression Control. Encyclopedia of Life Science. 2014.
Sharma K, Gillum N, Boyd JL, Schmid A. RosR Transcription Factor is Required for Gene Expression Dynamics in Response to Extreme Oxidative Stress in a Hypersaline-Adapted Archaeon. BMC Genomics. 2012.
Hartung T, Smirnova L, Morales Pantoja IE, Akwaboah A, Alam El Din D-M, Berlinicke CA, Boyd JL, et al. The Baltimore declaration toward the exploration of organoid intelligence. Front Sci (2023) 1:1068159. doi: 10.3389/fsci.2023.1068159
Smirnova L, Caffo BS, Gracias DH, Huang Q, Morales Pantoja IE, Tang B, Zack DJ, Berlinicke CA, Boyd JL, et al. Organoid intelligence (OI): the new frontier in biocomputing and intelligence-in-a-dish. Front Sci (2023) 1:1017235. doi: 10.3389/fsci.2023.1017235
Lomax Boyd & Jeremy Sugarman, Toward Responsible Public Engagement in Neuroethics. AJOB Neuroscience. 2022
Vasiliki Stoumpou, César D. M. Vargas, Peter F. Schade, Theodoros Giannakopoulos, J. Lomax Boyd, Erich D. Jarvis. Analysis of Mouse Vocal Communication (AMVOC): A deep, unsupervised method for rapid detection, analysis, and classification of ultrasonic vocalizations. BioAcoustics, 2022
Boyd, J. Lomax and Wray, Britt, Engaging and Co-authoring with Science Publics Online: Interactive Documentaries as Emergent Models of Science Communication. SSRN. 2018.
Lomax Boyd, Stephanie L. Skove, Jeremy P. Rouanet, Louis-Jan Pilaz, Tristan Bepler, Raluca Gordan, Gregory A. Wray, Debra L. Silver. Human-chimpanzee differences in a FZD8 enhancer alter cell cycle dynamics in the developing neocortex. Current Biology. 2015.
Boyd, J. Lomax, and Wray, Gregory A. Evolution of Human Gene Expression Control. Encyclopedia of Life Science. 2014.
Sharma K, Gillum N, Boyd JL, Schmid A. RosR Transcription Factor is Required for Gene Expression Dynamics in Response to Extreme Oxidative Stress in a Hypersaline-Adapted Archaeon. BMC Genomics. 2012.