Neuroscience, Ethics and Society
- +44 (0) 1865 618244
- georgina.kenny@psych.ox.ac.uk
- Alzheimer's
- Child development
- Community Mental Health Services
- Neuroscience
- Parenting
- Prevention
- Psychosis
- Schizophrenia
NEUROSEC was founded in 2015
Senior Investigator Award from the Wellcome Trust for BeGOOD project, 2015-2020
Our Young People's Advisory Group was formed in 2016
Launch year award from the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute for the project NeuroGenE, Mar 2017-Jun 2018
We conduct independent ethics research and we deliver ethical guidance for a range of scientific and clinical studies in the Oxford Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. We also work with a variety of international institutions and researchers. Our core research interests involve young people, mental health and neuroscience innovations in a global context.
Our location within the Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience is a key strength of our team, allowing us to develop work that is integrated with world-leading, cutting edge research and clinical development in psychiatry and neuroscience. We also maintain an important independence, grounded in a cross-appointment to the Oxford Uehiro Centre in Philosophy and a close relationship with the Oxford Ethox Centre in the Nuffield Department of Population Health. Since October 2017, these collaborations have formed part of the new Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities (Principal Investigators: I. Singh, M. Parker, J. Savulescu, M. Harrison).
The range and scale of ethics and societal foresight needs in psychiatry and neuroscience are extensive and exciting. We work with colleagues across Oxford and beyond who have relevant ethics and social science expertise for specific projects, and we build collaborative, multi-disciplinary teams that represent a genuine, critically engaged and reflexive integration of science, ethics and society.
Our multidisciplinary projects inform each other, such that researchers on our team have an opportunity to build knowledge and to exchange expertise across the range of projects and disciplines.
Explore our current teams and projects:
NEWS
March 2026
We are delighted to announce an innovative new collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Eden Project, which will investigate how nature can improve mental health and wellbeing.
We will work with Eden Project’s Nature Connections programme to investigate how experiences in nature can offer safe and accessible ways to tackle mild and moderate mental health challenges and promote wellbeing.
The team will evaluate practical solutions such as community horticulture projects and other nature engagement tools including apps, measuring their outcomes for mental health and wellbeing. They will then examine ways to scale up effective interventions so that more people can benefit, and develop policy recommendations and toolkits to help guide future initiatives in this area.
We are grateful to the Ashken Family Charitable Foundation for funding the initial phase of this exciting project.
Read more here!
Our new Research Platform: Oxford Human-Nature Health is live!
January 2026
25 students from 15 countries across the world joined us in Oxford for the Oxford Winter Neuroethics School, hosted at St Hilda's. We also hosted the inaugural Oxford Neuroethics Lecture, with 100 people attending at Wolfson College.
November 2025
The Oxford Winter Neuroethics School began with the first cohort attending online sessions ahead of the Learning Accelerator.
July 2025
Design Bioethics Lab (DBL) researchers Dr Edmond Awad and Dr David Lyreskog visited the Wildlife Conservation and Research Unit (WildCRU), Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, to present and discuss Last Haven. Read more here.
June 2025
Dr Edmond Awad features in The Guardian with his letter addressing ethical decision making around planning and nature.
May 2025
Last Haven, a digital DBL research tool examining moral attitudes toward conservation efforts, launches its new website. Check it out and get involved!
April 2025
Professor Ilina Singh is awarded with the Steven E. Hyman Award for Distinguished Service to the Field of Neuroethics, from the International Neuroethics Society.
The NEUROSEC team takes part in the Psychiatry Away Day, with Dr Katrin Wilhelm and Research Assistants, Sasha Menon and Charlotte Austin, presenting their posters at the Blavatnik School of Government.
March 2025
Agile holds a half-day showcase and forum, Putting Science into Action, which celebrates the work of Agile Sprints while asking the question: how can we build a research system to address environmental crises? Read more about the day here.
January 2025
Oxford Winter Neuroethics School opens its doors to admissions!
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work with us
We are not currently hiring for any positions. Check back here for updates.
Our team
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Ilina Singh
Professor of Neuroscience & Society
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Katrin Wilhelm
Senior Researcher - Environmental Science, Heritage and Wellbeing
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Lalitha Iyadurai
Senior Researcher: Translational Science of Flourishing
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David Lyreskog
Senior Researcher in Neuroethics
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Kathryn Francis
Senior Researcher: Design Bioethics and Moral Psychology
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Lucienne Spencer
Postdoctoral Researcher in Mental Health Ethics
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William Hohnen-Ford
Research Assistant
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Emma Fry
Research Assistant Flourishing Nature Connections
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Georgina Kenny
Communications & Events Officer
Mental Health Apps
Watch Prof. Ilina Singh and NEUROSEC's Young People's Advisory Group on the special 2017 World Mental Health Day episode of BBC Tomorrow's World.
