Previous Director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Until June 2021 Hugh Whittall was the Director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, whose task is to identify and report on ethical questions raised by new developments in biological and medical research. Recent reports have covered areas including neurotechnology, emerging biotechnologies, children and clinical research, biodata and genome editing.
Hugh was previously at the Department of Health, where he was involved with the preparation of the Human Tissue Act 2004 and the setting up of the Human Tissue Authority. He was also involved in end-of-life issues and transplantation policy.
Prior to that Hugh spent three years at the European Commission in Brussels, involved in the funding and promotion of bioethics research, and he was for several years Deputy Chief Executive of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.