Ilina Singh is Reader in Bioethics and Society. She has a doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University, and spent four years as an affiliated lecturer in Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge before arriving at the LSE in 2004. In 2006 she was the inaugural recipient of a university award in biomedical ethics from the Wellcome Trust, which provided a permanent lectureship at the LSE and funding for a five year research project, titled VOICES (Voices On Identity, Childhood, Ethics & Stimulants: Children Join the Debate. www.adhdvoices.com). Ilina has a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology and the Methodology Institute.
Ilina’s work explores the psycho-social and ethical implications of advances in bioscience and biomedicine for young people and families. Current projects focus on psychotropic drugs, neuroimaging, cognitive and other forms of enhancement, and biomarkers associated with the development of criminality, psychopathy and psychiatric disorder. Her research has several goals: To integrate conceptually rich, empirically grounded analysis of the benefits and risks of biomedical technologies into social theory and bioethical evaluation; to enable evidence-based policymaking in child health and education; and to improve public, scientific and clinical understanding of children’s experiences with behavioral and developmental difficulties and interventions. Future projects will develop the global and public health dimensions of these goals by extending research into developing countries.
By developing an empirical approach to bioethics, Ilina’s research has captured cross-disciplinary interest and impact. She is published in leading scientific, clinical, bioethics and social science journals, including Nature, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Social Science and Medicine, Child and Adolescent Mental Health and The American Journal of Bioethics. She sits on international policy and grant-making boards, including the Scattergood Foundation Program for Behavioral Health Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, USA; and the ELSA programme of the Norwegian Research Council. Ilina has also been a consultant to health policy working groups in the US and the UK, including the UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE); and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/Hastings Center Working Group on Drugs in Pediatric Psychiatry. In 2006, Ilina launched the journal BioSocieties with Professor Nikolas Rose, and is a Co-Editor of the journal. She is also on the Editorial Board of The American Journal of Bioethics-Neuroscience.
Ilina’s research on children and psychotropic drugs has been covered in the international news media, including a recent Guardian newspaper profile (http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/11/ritalin-drugs-young-people), and a Radio 4 All in the Mind segment (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/allinthemind_20080617.shtml). In 2009, Ilina was shortlisted as professional of the year in the UK Asian Women of Achievement Awards. Her book, tentatively titled Are You Paying Attention?: Children’s Perspectives on Identity, Behavior, Ritalin and ADHD is scheduled for publication in 2012; and an interactive, multi-media exhibit titled My Brain Doesn’t Make Me Do It: Young People’s Views on Brain, Behavior and Identity, is in planning stages.
Teaching Responsibilities 2010-11
Sociology 211: Sociology of Health and Medicine, Co-Convener
Methodology Institute 453: Fundamentals of Research Design, Convener
Sociology 455: Key Issues in Biomedicine, Bioscience & Society, Co-Convener
Methodology Institute 555: Qualitative Data Analysis Software Packages, Convener
Publications and other research activities
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/sociology/whoswho/academic/singh.aspx |