Biography

Laura Cabrera is a senior research associate in the Rock Ethics Institute. She also holds the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Neuroethics in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. Additionally, Cabrera is an professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics and is core faculty in the Center for Neural Engineering in Penn State’s College of Engineering.

Cabrera’s research focuses on the ethical and societal implications of neurotechnologies used for treatment as well as for enhancement purposes. She has 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. Her work has also focused on the ethical and social implications of environmental changes for brain and mental health. Her current work focuses on the responsible use of neurotechnologies, and the timing of deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s Disease.

Cabrera is chair of the IEEE Brain Neuroethics Subcommittee, and Chair of the IEEE SA P7700™ – Recommended Practice for the Responsible Design and Development of Neurotechnologies – Standard Development Group, and board member of the International Neuroethics Society (INS).