Henry T. Greely

- Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law
- Director, Center for Law and the Biosciences
- Professor, by courtesy, Genetics
- Chair, Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Ethics
- Director, Stanford Program in Neuroscience and Society
- Room N361, Neukom Building
Expertise
- Bioethics
- Bioscience & the Law
- Biotechnology
- Health Law & Policy
- Technology & the Law
Biography
Professor by courtesy of Genetics, Stanford School of Medicine; Director, Center for Law and the Biosciences; Director, Stanford Program in Neuroscience and Society; and Chair, Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Ethics.
Henry T. (Hank) Greely (BA ’74) specializes in the ethical, legal, and social implications of new biomedical technologies, particularly those related to genetics, assisted reproduction, neuroscience, or stem cell research. He is a founder and immediate past president of the International Neuroethics Society; a member of the Multi-Council Working Group of the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative, whose Neuroethics Working Group he co-chairs; chair of the Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues Committee of the Earth BioGenome Project; and chair of California’s Human Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee. He served as a member of the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law of the National Academies from 2013-2019; Neuroscience Forum of the Institute of Medicine from 2012-2019; as a member of the Advisory Council of the NIH’s National Institute for General Medical Sciences from 2013-2016; and from 2007-2010 as co-director of the Law and Neuroscience Project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation. Professor Greely chairs the steering committee for the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics and directs both the law school’s Center for Law and the Biosciences and the Stanford Program in Neuroscience and Society. Greely is also a professor (by courtesy) of genetics at Stanford School of Medicine. In 2007 Professor Greely was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, received Stanford University’s Richard W. Lyman Award in 2013, and the Stanford Prize in Population Genetics and Society in 2017. He published The End of Sex and the Future of Human Reproduction in 2016. His next book, CRISPR People: The Science and Ethics of Editing Humans, will be published in February 2021.
Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1985, Greely was a partner at Tuttle & Taylor, served as a staff assistant to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, and as special assistant to the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense. He served as a law clerk to Justice Potter Stewart of the U.S. Supreme Court and to Judge John Minor Wisdom of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Education
- BA Stanford University 1974
- JD Yale Law School 1977
Related Organizations
Courses
Affiliations & Honors
- Chair (1996-Present), Steering Committee, Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (SCBE)
- Chair (2002-2003), Stanford Faculty Senate
- Chair, Working Group on Stem Cell Research Policy Implementation
- Co-chair, Stanford Program in Organizing Neuroethics Education and Research
- Director, Stanford Program on Stem Cells in Society, SCBE
- Ethics Chair, North American Committee, Human Genome Diversity Project
- Ethics Officer, World Cell Line Collection 1 (Collaboration between the Human Genome Diversity Project and the Centre de l'Etude de Polymorphism Humain
- Member, Center for Integrating Research in Genetics and Ethics, SCBE
- Member, Stanford Program on Neuroethics, SCBE
- Member, Working Group on Human Trials of Cell Based Interventions for Neurological Conditons, John Hopkins University
- Member (2002-Present), Faculty Leadership Council, Bio-X Program
- Member, Scientific Advisory Committee and Ethics Advisory Committees, Deparment of Veterans' Affairs, DNA Bank Project
- Member, Genetics Advisory Board, Deparment of Veterans' Affairs, BEST Study
- Member, Ethics Committee, American Society for Gene Therapy
- Member, Ethics Committee, International Society for Stem Cell Research
- Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Stem Cell Network (Canada)
- Member, Ethics Advisory Board, Affymetrix, Inc.
- Member, Executive Committee, France Stanford Center for Interdisciplinary Studies
- Member, Steering Committee, Neuroscience Institute at Stanford
- Member, Advisory Committee, Stanford Institute for Clinical Information
- Member, Advisory Committee, Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Member, Executive Committee, Stanford Program in Regenerative Medicine
- Member, Operations Subcommittee
- Member, Bioethics Subcommittee
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Stanford University’s Richard W. Lyman Award, 2013
- Stanford Prize in Population Genetics and Society, 2017
Faculty on Point | Prof. Hank Greely on Emerging Human Reproduction Technologies
De-extinction: Hubris or Hope?: Hank Greely at TEDxDeExtinction
Stanford Legal on SiriusXM: Evidence, Law, and Technology with Hank Greely and Robert Weisberg
Part 1
Part 2
Key Works
News
Scientists near a breakthrough that could revolutionize human reproduction
NPR
STEIN: At the same time, the DNA for IVG could come from anywhere a single cell could be found. Hank Greely, a bioethicist at Stanford, raises some of the provocative possibilities. HANK GREELY: Ninety-year-old genetic mothers, 9-year-old genetic mothers, 6-month-old fetuses that become genetic parents, people who have been dead…
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Ukraine has THE best public relations outfit in the world. Tender, cute, heartbreaking, infuriating...they manage to play all the right strings. (I say that in sincere admiration of their skills—as well as the fact that they are on the just side of this war. Slava Ukraini!

A graduation ceremony outside a Kharkiv school damaged by russian terrorists.
One of my favorite numbers to carry around in my head: 4 million. Every age cohort born in the US for the last 70-75 years had started w/about 4 million members. (Hadn't remembered the early 70s baby bust as being SO deep, tho).
@DinaRadenkovic The number of births per year in U.S. It's been pretty constant since WWII. But since the population is growing, it actually reflects a steady drop in kids-per-woman. By contrast, you can see deaths per year climb steadily (then suddenly, i guess due to covid)
I am annoyed by the way the news call this study "approved" by FDA. An IDE is considered "approved" 30 days after receipt unless FDA puts a hold on it. Holds aren't common; Neuralink's "approval" is only noteworthy bec/its prior IDEs were blocked.
Newsday - Brain implant study approved in US - BBC Sounds. With commentary from @NitaFarahany https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0fqk5rj
@matthewherper @neuralink /2 Here's a Reuters article
https://www.reuters.com/science/elon-musks-neuralink-gets-us-fda-approval-human-clinical-study-brain-implants-2023-05-25/ HT/@NitaFarahany. It doesn't answer any of my questions either.