Professor Jonathan Montgomery appointed Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics

“I was delighted to be invited to take on this role,” said Jonathan. “The Council has made an outstanding contribution over its first twenty years; informing public opinion and influencing policy and practice in areas of vital interest to our society. I relish the prospect of being part of its work over the next five years. Bioethics touches all of our lives and we need to think clearly and rigorously about using our scientific knowledge responsibly and for the benefit of us all. The Council has established itself as a pre-eminent source of wise advice in the UK and internationally. It will be a privilege to join it.”

Professor Montgomery takes over from Albert Weale, ESRC Professorial Fellow and Professor of Political Theory and Public Policy at University College London, who has chaired the Council since 2008. Under Albert’s chairmanship, the Council has published reports on the ethics of dementia care, personalised healthcare, biofuels, and organ and tissue donation.

“The Nuffield Council occupies a unique place in our common lives,” said Professor Weale. “For over 20 years it has devoted careful thought and deliberation to some of the most challenging issues that confront us in our personal and collective concerns, including the proper care of those undergoing clinical trials in developing countries, the nature and limits of the gift relationship or the place and role of genetic modification of plants and non-human animals, as well as so many more topics. I have had personal experience on many occasions of the high esteem in which the Council is held around the world. If there were not a Nuffield Council, it would be necessary to invent it. Long may its deliberations continue.”

Jonathan will begin his 5-year term on 12 March.

Further information is available from the Nuffield Council’s website .