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Françoise Baylis is a Canadian bioethicist whose work is at the intersection of applied ethics, health policy and practice. The focus of her research is on issues of women's health and assisted reproductive technologies, while her research and publication record also extends to topics such as research involving humans (including human embryo research), gene editing, novel genetic technologies, public health, the role of bioethics consultants and neuroethics. She works as a public intellectual who regularly engages with print, radio, television and online media, and she is a frequent commentator on CBC Radio and Radio-Canada.
Baylis was born in Montreal in 1961. She holds a BA in Political Science from McGill University (1983), and an MA (1984) and PhD (1989) in Philosophy from the University of Western Ontario. In 1996 she came to Dalhousie University as an Associate Professor in the Office of Bioethics Education and Research (later the Department of Bioethics), and in 2004 she was appointed Professor and Canada Research Chair in Bioethics and Philosophy. She is currently appointed to the Faculty of Medicine, with cross-appointments in both Philosophy and Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Baylis is the founder and leader (since 2003) of Novel Tech Ethics (now NTE Impact Ethics), an interdisciplinary research team based at Dalhousie University.
In 2007 Baylis was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Other notable career achievements include being named to the Who's Who in Black Canada and the Canadian Who's Who; holding three Governor-in-Council appointments, including membership in the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee (1999-2001); serving as a member of Governing Council, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2001-2004); sitting on the Board of Directors, Assisted Human Reproduction Canada (2006-2010); serving as the Royal Society of Canada Academic Secretary (Academy I) and the Atlantic Steering Committee Chair (2012-2015); and holding a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Bioethics and Philosophy (2004-2018). In 2016 Professor Baylis was inducted into both the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada. In 2022 she received the prestigious Killam Prize, granted annually by the Killam Trusts.
Further details of her scholarly and professional activity can be found at https://www.dal.ca/sites/noveltechethics/our-people/francoise-baylis.html.