Crosscultural Perspectives on Mind and Brain

Dr. Illes, trailblazing neuroethicist, is Professor of Neurology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Distinguished University Scholar, UBC Distinguished Scholar in Neuroethics, and Director of Neuroethics Canada. She holds appointments in UBC’s School of Population and Public Health, and in Journalism, and in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, in Seattle. She is a pioneer of the field of neuroethics through which she has made groundbreaking contributions to cross-cultural ethical, legal, social and policy challenges at the intersection of the brain sciences and biomedical ethics. Dr. Illes received her PhD in Hearing and Speech Sciences and in Neuropsychology from Stanford University in 1987, and turned to ethics in 2000, 25 years ago. She was among the first to use high density EEG recordings and pattern recognition to understand language processing in neurodegenerative disease, and was part of the revolution that functional MRI introduced. Together with others whose vision for ethics for neuroscience led from within the neurosciences, Dr. Illes has not only placed neuroethics on the world map of, but has tirelessly trained the generation that leads it today, and already those who will lead it tomorrow. Dr. Illes has published 11 edited volumes, including three handbooks in neuroethics and as Editor in Chief of the series of volumes for Developments in Neuroethics and Bioethics. She has led major research projects and hundreds of publications on invasive and noninvasive technologies, fixed and portable imaging systems such as MRI, biologics, pharmaceuticals, and devices, open science and intellectual property protections. In 2023, she released an award-winning film on neurotechnology ethics and decision-making for children with drug resistant epilepsy. Dr. Illes has also contributed significantly to the Canadian landscape in understanding crosscultural perspectives on brain and mind, including those of Indigenous People. She has received countless awards and recognitions for her empirical work and her mentoring alike. Dr. Illes places a particular emphasis on issues of ethics in neuroscience with attention to biomedicine, innovations that seek to alleviate the burden of psychiatric and neurologic disease, including spinal cord injury, both expected and unexpected incidental findings, holism, human rights and health disparities. With this open and broad perspective, she capably leads the seven-nation International Brain Initiative dedicated to global neuroscience that is inclusive and politically free. Dr. Illes was awarded the Order of Canada, the country’s highest recognition of its citizens, in 2017.

Dr. Perreault is an award-winning Research Leadership Chair at the University of Guelph and is a proud Métis citizen. Her research is on the leading edge of therapeutic target and biomarker discovery in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Perreault also spends much of her time on Indigenous initiatives and educating on the decolonization of neuroscience, and she is involved in the development of guidelines on clinical research methodologies with Indigenous communities. Dr. Perreault received her PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience from McMaster University in 2007 and spent several years training in Neuropharmacology at the University of Toronto. During this time, she focused on the dopamine and opioid signalling and their relevance in neuropsychiatric disorders. She joined the University of Guelph in 2017 where she built a multidisciplinary research program in cellular, systems, and behavioural neurobiology with a focus on depression, schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorders. Her goal is to improve personalized approaches to medicine by furthering the understanding of sex differences in brain health and disease. Dr. Perreault also takes a Two-Eyed Seeing approach to her research, emphasizing holistic approaches to medicine. She works closely with plant biologists and chemists to determine the neurobiological impacts of whole plants or mushrooms, such as psilocybin or cannabis, and their relevance to mental health. Dr. Perreault is a member of The College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada and a full member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. She is Lead of the Cross-Cultural Working Group of the International Brain Initiative and is part of the Indigenous Knowledge Holder’s Group of the Canadian Brain Research Strategy. Her efforts towards building inclusivity in the sciences were acknowledged with an Award of Excellence by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities of Ontario and in 2024 she was honoured as a Woman of Distinction by the YMCA.