My lab brings together empirical, conceptual, normative work at the intersection of brain, technology and ethics. I hold the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Neuroethics at the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics and Philosophy, and Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institutes.

I am Associate Director for Neuroethics and Engagement at the Center for Neural Engineering. I am Affiliated Faculty at the Bioethics Program; the Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence; the Law, Policy and Engineering Initiative; the Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition; the Neuroscience Program; the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences; and the Social Science Research Institute.

I graduated as an Electronic and Communication Engineer from The Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico City. After that, I decided to follow my interest around the ethical and social implications of technology and completed a Master in Applied Ethics at Linköping University in Sweden, and a PhD in Applied Ethics from Charles Sturt University in Australia. Before joining Penn State, I was an Assistant Professor at the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences at Michigan State University. Prior to that I conducted my first postdoctoral research fellowship at the Institute for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Basel, followed by a second postdoctoral research position at Neuroethics Canada (previously known as National Core for Neuroethics), University of British Columbia.

My interests focus on the ethical and societal implications of neurotechnologies used for treatment as well as for enhancement purposes. I have been working on projects at the interface of normative, conceptual and empirical approaches, exploring attitudes and ethical concerns of professionals, patients and members of the public toward brain interventions. My work has also focused on the ethical and social implications of environmental changes for brain and mental health.

My current work focuses on the responsible use of psychiatric electroceutical interventions, and the timing of deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s Disease.

I am an honorific member of the Asociación Mexicana de Neuroética, chair of the IEEE Brain Neuroethics Subcommittee, chair of the IEEE Standards Association P7700 working Group on implementing socio-technical standard for neurotechnology, and member of the International Neuroethics Society (INS) Board of Directors. In February 2023 I was elevated to IEEE Senior Member. My career goal is to pursue interdisciplinary neuroethics scholarship, provide active leadership, and train and mentor future leaders in the field.