Innovations in Neuroscience: cross-cultural perspectives on ethical issues

Join us for this special UWA Institute of Advanced Studies Masterclass with Dr Karen Rommelfanger, a leading neuroethicist and neuroscientist, and founding director of the Neuroethics Program at Emory University’s Ethics Center.

15 July 2025, 10am-12.30pm, UWA Institute of Advanced Studies

In this masterclass, Professor Rommelfanger will discuss cross-cultural perspectives on ethical issues related to a survey on neuroscience innovations. The session will also include interactive and hands on activity.

IAS Masterclasses are intended to be cross-disciplinary, and attendees are welcome across all relevant disciplines and from all WA Research Centres. Participants are encouraged to discuss their research within the framework of the stated topic.

Attendance is free, however numbers are limited, and prior registration is required.

Associate Professor Karen Rommelfanger is a neuroethicist who explores the intersection of brain science, predictive technology, and what it means to be human. Founder of NeuroEthics Women (NEW) Leaders and advisor to the NIH BRAIN Initiative, she works across global institutions to question where neurotechnology is taking us—and whether we’re asking the right questions along the way.

An overarching theme in Dr Rommelfanger’s work is the exploration of how evolving neuroscience and neurotechnologies challenge societal definitions of disease and medicine with a focus on predictive technologies. She is also engaged in research in cross-cultural neuroethics. Her research explores the ethical dimensions of neurotechnologies—such as brain-machine interfaces and predictive tools—and their impact on societal definitions of illness and identity. A vocal advocate for cross-cultural perspectives, she leads the Global Neuroethics Summit and serves as the US ambassador to the Human Brain Project’s Ethics Advisory Board.

Dr Rommelfanger is a widely published scholar and public communicator, and her work has been featured in PNAS, Neuron, Nature Reviews Neurology, The New York Times, and Scientific American.

Professor Rommelfanger visits UWA as a UWA Institute of Advanced Studies Visiting Fellow and is a keynote speaker at the 2025 Politics of the Machines (POM) Conference - Synthetic Sentience, 15-18 July at The University of Western Australia.