The Board of Directors of the International Neuroethics Society (INS) appointed Debra JH Mathews, Associate Director for Research and Programs at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and Professor in the Department of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, to serve as president for a 2-year term beginning on October 25, 2023. The president serves as chair of the 15-member Board and guides efforts to achieve the mission of the Society to encourage and inspire research and dialogue on the responsible use of advances in brain science. Mathews has been an active member of the INS since 2006, a Board member since 2015, and is now the seventh president since its incorporation in 2008.

“I stepped forward for consideration for this role, not only out of a sense of duty to this organization that’s been such a critical part of my professional life literally from the beginning, and from which I’ve received so much, but also because I hope that I have something to offer,” said Mathews, who outlined several priorities she intends to champion during her presidency. Her focus includes:

• Undertaking important inward facing and outward facing work on inclusion, diversity, anti-racism and equity;
• Growing and supporting a pipeline of diverse junior scholars who want to grow from membership, to engaged involvement, and into leadership positions;
• Strengthening and creating robust connections between the INS and institutions and organizations representing allied fields and scholars.

“I’d like to see the field, and INS — having grown and matured over the last 15 years plus — reach out more, not only to neuroscientists, but also to other areas of science and technology, including genetics, stem cell science, AI, and other subspecialties within bioethics and beyond,” said Mathews. A video of her address is included as a chapter in the Business Meeting recording.

The International Neuroethics Society is a professional association of scientists, scholars, students, and practicing legal and health professionals leading the discussion on the complex ethical issues arising from brain research and an expanding understanding of the mind. Experts in the ethical, legal, and societal impacts of advances in neuroscience, Society members are uniquely equipped to communicate the value and implications that new knowledge, technologies, and potential applications bring to human health and wellbeing.

Debra JH Mathews, PhD, MA, the Assistant Director for Science Programs for the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Genetic Medicine at the JHU School of Medicine, has been appointed as President-elect of the International Neuroethics Society (INS). After one year in this role, Dr. Mathews will serve a two-year term as President, during which time she will work to expand connections between the INS and other professional societies, including those representing neuroscientists and researchers in other areas of science and bioethics.

“Even as disciplinary silos can be incredibly helpful for enabling specialization and depth, and for creating and building community, they can also cut us off from valuable information, ideas, methods, and relationships. I would like to see the field and the INS build connections to scientists and technologists and to social scientists asking similar questions in different academic spaces,” said Mathews. “Doing so will not only expand the universe of people who know about and might get involved with the INS, but will also help expand the thinking and enrich the scholarship of our members.”

Dr. Mathews is responsible for overseeing science and technology related programs in the Berman Institute. She also runs the Genomics and Society Mentorship Program and serves as the Chair of the Berman Institute’s Inclusion, Diversity, Anti-Racism, and Equity Committee. Within the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy (IAA), Dr. Mathews serves as the Ethics & Governance Lead. In this role, she leads work focused on the ethical, societal, and governance implications of autonomous systems, and identifies opportunities across IAA for the integration of ethics and governance work and priorities. She has been an active member of the INS since its inception in 2006 and has served on the Society’s Board of Directors since 2015.

Dr. Mathews’s academic work focuses on ethics and policy issues raised by emerging technologies, with particular focus on neuroscience, genetics, stem cell science, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence. In addition to her academic work, Dr. Mathews has spent time at the Genetics and Public Policy Center, the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, and the National Academy of Medicine working in various capacities on science policy.

The International Neuroethics Society is a professional association of scientists, scholars, students, and practicing legal and health professionals leading the discussion on the complex ethical issues arising from brain research and an expanding understanding of the mind.