About the IAPP

Nita A. Farahany is the Robinson O. Everett Distinguished Professor of Law & Philosophy and Founding Director of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society. She is a widely published scholar on the ethics of emerging technologies, and author of the book “The Battle for Your Brain: Defending Your Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology.”

Farahany is a frequent commentator for national media and radio and keynote speaker at events including TED, the Aspen Ideas Festival, the World Economic Forum, and judicial conferences worldwide. From 2010-2017, she served as a commissioner on the U.S. Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. She is an appointed member of the National Advisory Council for the National Institute for Neurological Disease and Stroke, an elected member of the American Law Institute and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Farahany has led or served on nine state and national initiatives on neuroscience, ethics, national security and economics.   

Farahany is a co-editor-in-chief and co-founder of the Journal of Law and the Biosciences and serves on the board of advisors for Scientific American. She also serves on scientific and ethics advisory boards for corporations. Farahany received her bachelor’s degree in genetics, cell, and developmental biology from Dartmouth College, a master’s of liberal arts in biology from Harvard University, law and master’s degrees Duke University, and a doctorate in philosophy.