Impact Statement: Dr. Illes’ work has brought a new lens to the way that neuroscientists do their work today, not only by guiding the way that they attend to the possible unexpected clinical consequences of their work, but to the importance of integrating multicultural considerations into study design, analysis, and delivery of results that mitigates biases and ensures meaningful and just outcomes. Her trailblazing work has had a major impact on policy making in Canada and around the world. In 2025, Dr. Illes represented Canada as members of UNESCO gathered to negotiate the recommendations on the ethics of neurotechnology – expected to be adopted in the form of soft law at the UN General Assembly.

Under her leadership and sponsorship from the prestigious Brocher Foundation, global leaders came together to discuss issues surrounding Indigenous research and Indigenous perceptions on mind and brain health. Alongside her publications in Nature and Nature Reviews Neuroscience on Indigenous capacity building in neuroscience, these researchers have contributed a volume on Crosscultural Perspectives on Mind and Brain, part of the book series Developments in Neuroethics and Bioethics of which Dr. Illes is Editor in Chief. This volume, alongside her other 11 books on neuroethics are considered seminal resources for the field today.

Globally when one speaks of neuroethics, one speaks of Dr. Judy Illes. She has put science and society for brain health and people with neurologic conditions on the world map and, in doing so, has demonstrated an outstanding level of talent and service to people in Canada. It is estimated that 80% of neuroethicists in the field today have directly or indirectly learned under Dr. Illes’ tutelage or are otherwise connected with her professional family – truly an impact felt around the world.

Bio: Dr. Illes is Professor of Neurology at the University of British Columbia, UBC Distinguished University Scholar, Distinguished Professor of Neuroethics, and Director of Neuroethics Canada. She is faculty in UBC’s Centre for Brain Health, the School of Population and Public Health, the School of Journalism, and in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Dr. Illes also holds an appointment as a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University. She received her PhD in Hearing and Speech Sciences, and in Neuropsychology at Stanford University.

Dr. Illes is a pioneer of the field of neuroethics through which she has made groundbreaking contributions to ethical, legal, social and policy challenges at the intersection of the brain sciences and biomedical ethics. She is deeply committed to advancing the alignment of human values with science and policy, and has done so over the past 25 years in leadership roles in Canada and abroad. Today she is vice chair of the new Bioethics Council for Canada, chair of the International Brain Initiative, a member of the Ethics and Society Committee of EBRAINS – Europe’s largest neuroscience infrastructure – and a member of the Ethics Law and Humanities Committee of the American Academy of Neurology among other organizations. She has also recently served as Canada’s designate to UNESCO on the ethics of neurotechnology, and as an academic and expert advisor to Health Canada, the World Health Organization, the OECD, and Amnesty International.

Dr. Illes was awarded the Order of Canada in 2017.