Portrait of Ana Iltis

Ana S. Iltis

Nonresident Fellow for Biomedical Research Policy

Biography


Ana S. Iltis, Ph.D., is a nonresident fellow in the Center for Health Policy. She is the director of the Center for Bioethics, Health and Society and professor of philosophy at Wake Forest University. Iltis also holds an appointment in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest School of Medicine. In addition, Iltis serves on several National Institutes of Health (NIH) data safety monitoring boards, and she holds a wide range of editorial positions, including co-editor of the Annals of Bioethics book series (Routledge), senior associate editor of The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (Oxford University Press) and co-editor of Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics (Johns Hopkins University Press). She was president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities from 2019–21.

Iltis scholarly focus is primarily on the ethical conduct of human research, including research involving children, first-in-human studies, mental health research, organ transplantation research and risk in research decision-making. She also works on ethics and policy issues regarding emerging biotechnologies. Prior to joining Wake Forest University, Iltis was an associate professor of health care ethics and director of the Ph.D. program in the Center for Health Care Ethics at Saint Louis University.

Iltis received a B.A. and B.A. Honors (interdisciplinary arts and sciences degree) from Villanova University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from Rice University.

Contact at [email protected] or 336-758-4254.

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Ethical Challenges and Concerns in Synthetic Biology
Synthetic biology presents exciting opportunities in medicine and agriculture — but also raises complex ethical questions. In this working paper, Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Alicia L. Johnson, Ana S. Iltis, Dalton R. George, and Sophie Berto examine the ethical challenges posed by this emerging field.
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Alicia L. Johnson, Ana S. Iltis, Dalton R. George, Sophie Berto June 6, 2025