NATIONAL CORE FOR NEUROETHICS
LA NEUROÉTHIQUE
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
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Researchers and Administrative Staff
James A. Anderson, Ph.D. is a Research Associate at the Core. Dr. Anderson holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy (2007) from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, where he was supervised by Professor Susan Sherwin. Dr. Anderson also holds an M.A. in Philosophy (Dalhousie, 2003), a Masters in Health Administration (Dalhousie, 2002), and a B.A. in Philosophy (McGill, 1998). His dissertation work, which explored the intersection of the philosophy of science and the ethics of clinical research, was funded by a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada as well as a Killam Pre-doctoral scholarship. He was also a trainee in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Ethics of Health Research and Policy Training Program. From 2008-2011, Dr. Anderson was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Biomedical Ethics Unit at McGill University, where his work was funded by a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the Research Institute of the Montreal Children’s Hospital. During his time at McGill, Dr. Anderson was a contributing member of the influential Clinical Trials Research Group, working with Professors Kathleen Glass and Jonathan Kimmelman primarily on the ethics of translational research. At the core, Dr. Anderson’s work will focus on the ethics of translational research and practice in neuroimaging. Dr. Anderson brings a rich background in normative bioethics (particularly research ethics) and hands-on experience with research ethics review to the Core.
Elana Brief, Ph.D., is a Consulting Research Fellow at the Core. She received her doctorate in Physics from the University of British Columbia where she developed methods for using MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to non-invasively measure concentrations of chemicals in human brain. During her post-doctoral fellowships she used similar techniques to study the human lung in Paris, France and to analyze fabricated human skin at Simon Fraser University. Dr. Brief has also worked in population health as one of the Research Directors of the Women's Health Research Network (funded by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research). There she co-authored "Our Common Ground" a guide describing how to engage in community based research. At the Core, Dr. Brief leads a project investigating First Nations community members' perspectives on normal and pathological brain aging.
Daniel Buchman, B.A., M.S.W., R.S.W., is a Doctoral Student in the UBC Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program, focusing on bioethics and neuroethics. He is the recipient of a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Research Award from CIHR, and an Ethics Fellow at Providence Healthcare in Vancouver. Daniel received his BA in Psychology and Social Studies of Medicine from McGill University and his Masters of Social Work with a specialization in Addiction Studies from the University of Toronto. His research interests combine thinking in medical sociology, medical anthropology, bioethics, and the philosophy of psychiatry. His dissertation project will focus on the ethical issues that arise in the treatment of chronic pain in individuals who live with a concurrent substance use problem. As a complement to his academic interests, Daniel has clinical social work experience in front-line and outpatient addiction and mental health settings, in addition to inpatient work at an acute care hospital.
Eugene Chong is a Research Intern at the Core. Eugene is currently in his third year in the Cognitive Systems program at UBC, pursuing a major in computational intelligence and design. Having joined the core in September 2010, Eugene works with Dr. Reiner’s group in assessing the public’s attitude towards pharmacological cognitive enhancers. Currently, his project with Dr. Reiner’s group focuses upon the concept of peer pressure, one of the four cardinal concerns regarding pharmacological cognitive enhancers. Some of Eugene’s interests lies in cognition and development; specifically, he is passionate about language acquisition in infants and intellectual disability in people. Eugene also has a key interest in artificial intelligence, such as natural language processing, knowledge representation and machine learning.
Nina Di Pietro, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Fellow at the Core. She received her doctorate in Neuroscience from Boston University in 2006 where she studied how dopamine in the prefrontal cortex mediates drug-seeking and taking behaviours in animal models of drug addiction. Dr. Di Pietro subsequently joined the University of British Columbia as a post-doctoral research fellow within the Brain Research Centre, where she investigated the physiological interactions between dopamine and serotonin in the prefrontal cortex and the network firing patterns of neurones in this brain region during decision-making tasks. At the Core she is working as the Neuroethics Program Lead for NeuroDevNet, Canada’s newest Network of Centres of Excellence. Her work at the Core aims to identify and gather data on products that are under commercial development for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, and autism spectrum disorder, as well as to identify the unique ethical and social challengers faced by stakeholders concerned by these conditions and involved in their research. Dr. Di Pietro is also actively engaged in promoting knowledge translation through her work as a Let’s Talk Science volunteer and by hosting journal clubs at UBC.
Marleen Eijkholt, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Core. Her background is in law and bioethics, with a particular focus on international comparative health law, human rights and legal theory. Marleen has an LL.B/LL.M degree from the Maastricht University (NL), and a Ph.D. in Bioethics and Medical Jurisprudence from the University of Manchester (UK). At both institutions she held associate lecturer positions and was awarded several prestigious grants, amongst which the ‘Talent for the Future’ scholarship in Maastricht. She was at the Bioethics Committee of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (FR) in the beginning of 2010, and moved to the National Core for Neuroethics at UBC (CA) at the end of the same year. Marleen used to combine legal, philosophical and ethical approaches in her work. She is excited to add empirical methods to this list, and to start using scientific strategies in her fellowship at Core. Her main project involves the ELSI of stakeholder perspectives on stem cell research/treatment for spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis.
Nicholas Fitz, B.A., is a Research Assistant at the Core. Nick joined the Core in April 2012 after a neuroethics fellowship at a think-tank in Washington DC following the completion of his undergraduate studies at Grinnell College (2011), majoring in Philosophy (with foci in mind, ethics, and pragmatism) and concentrating in Policy Studies. Nick's neuroethical research interests include: the ethics of human enhancement, the relationship between free will and responsibility, the sociocultural implications of neuroessentialist thought, the role of empirical inquiry in ethics, and moral psychology. His most visible project at the Core explores public attitudes toward cognitive enhancement: using methods inspired by experimental philosophy, he and Dr. Reiner examine folk intuitions regarding issues of safety, autonomy, peer pressure, and distributive justice as they inform ethical, social, and policy discourse.
Jennifer Mackie, B.Sc., M.Sc. is a Research Assistant at the Core. She is of Yinka Dené and Scot descent and belongs to the Lasilyoo (Frog) Clan of the Tl’azt’en Nation. Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology and she most recently wrote her Master’s Thesis in Community Health Science on Indigenous Determinants of Health, health impact assessment and how Indigenous health is assessed during an environmental assessment process. Jen currently works for the Core on a project that seeks to present Indigenous perspectives of health and wellness and the ways in which these knowledges intersect with medical science knowledge in the context of Alzheimer Disease. We wish to support individual and families’ decision-making around prediction, diagnosis and care in Alzheimer Disease.
Praveena Manogaran is a Research Intern at the Core, having joined Dr. Reiner’s group in September 2010. Their project focuses on the public’s perception of cognitive enhancement, in particular how concepts of authenticity are framed in the cognitive enhancement debate. Praveena is a third year student at University of British Columbia pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science in Cognitive Systems: Cognition and Brain with a Minor in Biology. Her interests include functional neuroanatomy and the neurobiological bases of perception, consciousness, sensation, psychopathology, and memory. She also has a fascination for arachnids and the study of entomology. Her future goal is to attend graduate school to obtain her Ph. D. in Experimental Medicine.
Janice Matautia is the Administrator for the Core. She is a second generation Vancouverite and long-time staff member at UBC. Following pursuit of a Liberal Arts degree in California, she completed a two-year Legal Assistant Program at Capilano University in North Vancouver, while working at permanent part-time/full-time temporary positions at UBC. From 1976 to the present, Ms. Matautia has worked a total of 25 years at UBC in various staff positions within Dean’s Offices, Departments, Schools and Research Units representing the Faculties of Agricultural Sciences, Applied Science, Arts, Education, Graduate Studies, Law and Medicine on campus and within the UBC-affiliated hospitals. Training and work experiences range from the areas of human resources, finance and education to the legal, medical and administrative arenas. Most recently, Ms. Matautia was the Office for Nursing Research Coordinator (1998-2003) and the Administrator for the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program (2003-2010). In 2007, with her three children having completed high school and off to University/College, Ms. Matautia returned to part-time academic studies at UBC in order to complete her Bachelor of Arts degree requirements.
Danny Mendelsohn, M.D., M.Sc. completed Neuroscience degrees at Dalhousie University and Maastricht University. His research interests included animal models for addiction, serotonin and cognition, and the perception of auditory illusions. Danny graduated medical school from the University of Western Ontario in 2011 and is currently a neurosurgery resident at The University of British Columbia. During medical school, Danny investigated the ethical implications of technological innovation in neurosurgery.
Ania Mizgalewicz, B.A., is a Research Assistant at the Core and holds a B.A. from the University of British Columbia in Cognitive Systems, with a specialization in Brain and Cognition. Her past research experience includes being a lab coordinator of the Psychophysics and Cognitive Neuroscience lab at UBC, EEG technician with the Institute of Mental Health, and an undergraduate research assistant at the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics. She joined the Core in August 2010 as an undergraduate research assistant working on various projects including NeuroDevNet and the Spinal Cord Injury Stakeholders Initiative. Presently, her main project is focused on ethical issues surrounding incidental findings in pediatric neuroimaging. Ania is also pursuing a Certificate in Interdisciplinary Palliative Care from Lakehead University and hopes to focus her future research on end of life issues and disorders of consciousness.
Roland Nadler, B.A., is an R. Howard Webster Fellow and graduate student at the Core. Roland joined Dr. Reiner at the Core as a Fulbright scholarship finalist in September 2009 after completing his undergraduate studies at Harvard University, concentrating in Philosophy with a specialization in Mind, Brain, and Behaviour. Roland’s areas of neuroethical interest include the ethics of human enhancement, the intersection of cognitive science and jurisprudence, the role of empirical inquiry in ethics, the relationship between free will and responsibility, and moral psychology. His most visible project at the Core explores the attitudes of the general public regarding pharmacological cognitive enhancement: using methods inspired by experimental philosophy, he and Dr. Reiner aim to produce a body of data detailing folk intuitions about issues of safety, autonomy, peer pressure, and distributive justice as they relate to this topic. Roland is pursuing a Master of Arts degree in UBC's Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program; his MA thesis will examine the relationship between retributive punishment theory and consistent attribution of mens rea in courtroom settings.
Julie Robillard, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Core. She has a BSc in Biological Sciences from Université de Montréal and graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2010 with a PhD in Neuroscience. During her PhD, Dr. Robillard investigated how aging affects a cellular model for learning and memory, and the impact of antioxidants on the aging brain. She is a volunteer with the Let’s Talk Science partnership and writes a science blog at www.scientificchick.com. At the Core, Dr. Robillard will be working on a project looking at the effectiveness of neuroscience communications.
Christopher Thomas Scott, BA, MLA, is a doctoral student in the UBC Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program, focusing on current topics in neuroethics and the ethical, legal, and social dimensions of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Mr. Scott is working with Dr. Judy Illes (neuroethics), Dr. Shafik Dharamsi (global biopolicy and medicine) and Dr. Brian Kwon (medical tourism). Mr. Scott is a Brocher Institute Scholar in Bioethics (Geneva); an Economic and Research Council Research Fellow (Sheffield UK); Associate Fellow at Centre for Biomedicine and Society (King's College London UK); and a member of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. He directs the Stanford Program on Stem Cells and Society and is a senior research scholar and faculty at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. His research focuses on empirical approaches to bioethics and biopolicy. He also publishes on intellectual property, the therapeutic misconception, medical tourism, and human egg and embryo donation. While at Stanford, he directs courses in stem cell biology and biomedical ethics. His dissertation project will focus on how policy, law, and funding affect the distribution of pluripotent stem cell lines among scientists, across geographies, and across regulatory gradients. For fun, he likes to climb 6,000-meter mountains and rides Italian motorcycles and bicycles as fast as he can. He sometimes plays the violin, which annoys nearby pets.
Aline Tabet, M.Sc., is a PhD student in the Department of Statistics at UBC. Her research interest in is the modeling association under the Bayesian paradigm using Monte Carlo methods. She is particularly interested in the application of statistical methodology to learn patterns in multivariate data. She has been providing statistical consulting advice for the Core since December 2009.
