NeuroFuture: Conversations on Women Advancing Neuroscience Worldwide
Upcoming sessions:
June 1, 2026, 12:00pm - 1:30pm PDT: Brain, Technology, and Ethics (Register here)
September 15, 2026, 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT: Neuroscience, Diversity, and Society (Registration link to follow)
Previous sessions:
March 30, 2026, 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Brain (watch the recording below)
Location: Virtual
Hosted by: IBI, World Women in Neuroscience, UBC Neuroethics Canada
In a series of virtual panel discussions, a collaborative effort between the IBI, the World Women in Neuroscience, and UBC Neuroethics Canada will bring together a wide range of voices in dialogue on the impact of women in neuroscience innovation, and will feature distinguished women neuroscientists to explore the intersections of AI, brain, technology, and ethics, and neuroscience, diversity, and society. Through brief presentations and dynamic audience engagement, this series will create a space where ideas are strengthened through conversation across disciplines and borders.
These free virtual events are open to the full neuroscience network of faculty members, students, research trainees, patient and public stakeholders, and other professionals from organizations located on all continents of the world. Beyond knowledge exchange, this initiative will foster global collaboration and mentorship.
To learn more about the World Women in Neuroscience and explore their initiatives, we invite you to become a member here: https://worldwomenneuro.org/membership/
To learn more about UBC Neuroethics Canada and the latest updates on their research, please visit: https://neuroethics.med.ubc.ca/
Brain, Technology, and Ethics
Monday, June 1, 2026
12:00pm - 1:30pm PDT
Join us for an interactive virtual panel discussion on the intersections of neuroscience, emerging technologies, and ethical considerations on current developments and future implications.
Featured Speakers:
Jennifer A. Chandler, LLM, FCAHS
Prof. Jennifer A. Chandler is a Professor at the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Prof. Chandler studies the legal and ethical aspects of biomedical science and technology, with a focus on the intersection of the brain sciences, law and ethics. In 2025, she received a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair focusing on the law and ethics of brain technologies, and in 2024, she was awarded the International Neuroethics Society’s Steven E. Hyman Award for Distinguished Service to the field of Neuroethics. She is a member of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and chaired its recent federal government-sponsored assessment of policy related to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in Canada. She was the Canadian Principal Investigator in the Hybrid Minds project (www.hybridminds.org), which brought together researchers from Switzerland, Germany, and Canada to examine the implications of incorporating artificial intelligence in neuroprostheses. Current research projects examine user experiences of brain computer interfaces and both invasive and non-invasive neuromodulation therapies, and the legal and other human rights implications of inferring mental states from brain data. She is the lead of a new multidisciplinary research project addressing the human rights to freedom of thought and expression, mental privacy, and equality in relation to communication neuroprostheses.
Laura Y. Cabrera, PhD
Dr. Laura Y. Cabrera is the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Neuroethics. Dr. Cabrera is an Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, and Philosophy at Penn State University. She is Senior Research Associate at the Rock Ethics Institute, and affiliated with the Center for Neural Engineering. Dr. Cabrera is chair of the P7700 - Recommended Practice for the Responsible Design and Development of Neurotechnologies - Standard Development Group, member of the International Neuroethics Society (INS) Board of Directors, and member of the Advisory Board for IEEE BRAIN and IEEE TechEthics. Dr. Cabrera is a Senior IEEE Member. Dr. Cabrera's interests focus on the ethical, societal, and cultural implications of the design, development, and use of neurotechnologies and other disruptive technologies.
Olivia Matshabane, PhD, MA
Dr. Olivia Matshabane is the Principal Investigator of the Africa Neuroethics Research Group in the SAMRC/SU Genomics of Brain Disorders Unit within the Department of Psychiatry at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She also co-directs the African Neuroscience Neuroethics and Society Short Course. Her research focuses on brain and mental health with a particular interest in ethics of neuropsychiatric genomics, cross-cultural neuroethics, Indigenous methodologies, community engagement and culture.
She has served in UNESCO’s Ad Hoc Expert Group tasked to develop a recommendation on ethics of neurotechnology. Currently, she serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Neuroethics Society (INS) and the INS’s representative to the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO). Dr. Matshabane is also the Ethics Lead in the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) Africa Working Group and the South Africa representative in the African Brain Data Network (ABDN). She is also a Research Associate in the Ethics Lab and a member of the International Brain Initiative's Crosscultural Working Group.
Julie M. Robillard, PhD
Dr. Julie M. Robillard is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Scientist in Patient Experience at BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital, and Faculty Member of Neuroethics Canada. Dr. Robillard leads the Neuroscience, Engagement and Smart Tech (NEST) lab, where she brings her background in neuroscience and biomedical ethics to the evaluation and development of social technologies to support brain health across the lifespan.
Together with her team and through international interdisciplinary collaborations, she is exploring co-creation processes, development and applications of social robots and other intelligent social technologies in both older adult and youth populations. She holds international leadership roles at the intersection of ethics, neuroscience and technology: she sits on the Ethics Board of the European CAVAA network, dedicated to research on awareness architecture, and on the International Advisory Committee of the Alzheimer’s Association, as two examples.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Brain
Monday, March 30, 2026
2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
An interactive virtual panel discussion on the current role of artificial intelligence (AI) in neuroscience and the ethical considerations it raises.
Watch the webinar here:
Featured Speakers:
Tamami Fukushi, PhD, is a professor at the Faculty of Human Welfare, Tokyo Online University. Dr. Fukushi started her career in neuroethics in 2005, and from 2010 to 2017, she experienced science policy and regulatory science, extending her career to science policy making and international cooperation/harmonization in regulation/governance of life science technologies and medicines.
In 2017, she rebooted neuroethics activity and contributed various international cooperative activities including IEEE Neuroethics Framework and Standard Association, International Neuroethics Society Public Communication and Publishing Affinity Group, International Brain Initiative (IBI) Neuroethics Working Group, and Implantable Brain-Computer Interface Collaborative Community (iBCI-CC). From February 2025, she has been assigned as a steering committee member of OECD BNCT project1 (neurotechnology) as a neuroethics expert.
Her current interest of neuroethics is Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in addition to ethics education of advanced technology of neuroscience in the context of engineering ethics, science policy and regulatory science.
Allison Sekuler, PhD, FSEP, FPsyS, FAPS, President and Chief Scientist of the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education (BARE) and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI), has a notable record of scientific achievements in aging, vision, cognitive neuroscience, and neurotechnology. Dr. Sekuler is the Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at BARE, Professor, Psychology at the University of Toronto, and Professor Emeritus, Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University.
Dr. Sekuler’s research uses behavioural and neuroimaging approaches to understand how the brain processes visual information, with specific interests in face perception, motion processing, perceptual learning, neural plasticity, aging, and neurotechnology. Her clinical and translational research aims to develop methods to prevent, detect, and treat age-related sensory and cognitive decline, with her research group being the first to demonstrate conclusively that older brains “rewire” themselves to compensate for functional changes.
Minerva Rivas Velarde, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Geneva School of Health Sciences, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Bioethica Forum, and a board member of the Swiss Society for Biomedical Ethics. Dr. Velarde coordinates the Disability Data Initiative Hub for Europe and Central Asia and leads projects at the intersection of disability, health, ethics, and digital innovation.
Dr. Velarde serves as a Member of the WHO/Europe Technical Advisory Group on Disability and Health (2022–2030) and as Adviser to the Lancet Commission on Disability. She is currently co-leading the Crosscultural Working Group of the International Brain Initiative. Dr. Velarde is an active member of the Swiss Disability Research Network.
Her work focuses on advancing equitable healthcare access and inclusive digital transformation for persons with disabilities worldwide.
Vardit Ravitsky, PhD is President and CEO of the Hastings Center, an independent, nonpartisan bioethics research institute that is among the most prestigious bioethics and health policy institutes in the world. Dr. Ravitsky is a Senior Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Previously, she was a Full Professor at the Bioethics Program, School of Public Health, University of Montreal.
Dr. Ravitsky’s research focuses on the ethics of genomics and reproduction, as well as the ethics and governance of health AI. She is particularly interested in the various ways in which cultural frameworks shape public debate and public policy around bioethical issues. Her work has been funded by Canada’s national and provincial funding agencies and is currently funded by the NIH and by leading Foundations. She has published over 250 articles and commentaries on bioethical issues and has given over 300 talks world-wide and over 400 media interviews.
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