Professor Jonathan Ives
BA, M.Phil, PhD(Birm.)
Expertise
Jon works across clinical & research ethics. He has particular expertise in empirical bioethics methodology, and his work currently focusses on best interests, and innovation.
Current positions
Professor of Empirical Bioethics
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Contact
Press and media
Many of our academics speak to the media as experts in their field of research. If you are a journalist, please contact the University’s Media and PR Team:
Biography
Jon is Professor of Empirical Bioethics and Deputy Director of the Centre for Ethics in Medicine, and Head of Section for Health Care Evaluation, in Bristol Medical School. He initially trained in philosophy, and now works as an interdisciplinary bioethicist at the nexus of ethics and social science, with a particular focus on, and expertise in, empirical bioethics methodology, on which he has published widely and delivers training worldwide.
His research interests are varied and include surgical innovation; ethics and trust of AI/autonomous systems; best interests decision making; clinical and research ethics; ethics, reproduction and parenthood. His work has been funded by, for example, the Wellcome Trust, NIHR, EPSRC, ESRC, AHRC.
He has published on a wide range of topics including ethics and fatherhood, research ethics, technology and innovation, end of life ethics, and clinical ethics, and he is lead editor of 'Empirical Bioethics: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives' (Cambridge University Press) and of the newly comissioned Rooutledge Handbook of Empirical Bioethics.
Jon is Chair of the BNSSG Risk and Ethics Advisary Forum, is a member of the NICE Highly Specialised Technologies Evaluation Committee, chairs the IME Grants and Awards Comiittee and is a trustee of the IME. He has previously sat on the RCGP Medical Ethics Committee.
His research interests are varied and include surgical innovation; ethics and trust of AI/autonomous systems; best interests decision making; clinical and research ethics; ethics, reproduction and parenthood. His work has been funded by, for example, the Wellcome Trust, NIHR, EPSRC, ESRC, AHRC.
He has published on a wide range of topics including ethics and fatherhood, research ethics, technology and innovation, end of life ethics, and clinical ethics, and he is lead editor of 'Empirical Bioethics: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives' (Cambridge University Press) and of the newly comissioned Rooutledge Handbook of Empirical Bioethics.
Jon is Chair of the BNSSG Risk and Ethics Advisary Forum, is a member of the NICE Highly Specialised Technologies Evaluation Committee, chairs the IME Grants and Awards Comiittee and is a trustee of the IME. He has previously sat on the RCGP Medical Ethics Committee.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Professional Ethical Guidance for Healthcare AI Use
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
An empirical bioethics research project.
This pilot research will investigate what the contents of professional ethical guidance should be, in the context of clinicians using artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare contexts.Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/05/2024 to 31/07/2024
Reasonable Adjustments for Autistic Clinicians (RAAC)
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/10/2022 to 31/01/2023
UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Node In Functionality
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Department of Aerospace EngineeringDates
01/11/2020 to 30/04/2024
Balancing Best Interests in Health Care, Ethics and Law (BABEL)
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
The project explores healthcare decisions that are made in the “best interests” of patients who are unable to make decisions for themselves because they lack (what the law calls) mental…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/09/2018 to 31/08/2023
Conversations with Fathers
Principal Investigator
Description
The project will co-produce a resource to help men ‘live well’ as fathers. This is in response to a need to extend the repertoire of fathering practices men are…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
09/05/2016 to 09/05/2017
Thesis supervisions
Ethical issues in labour care in Sri Lanka
Supervisors
Critical reflections upon the origins, nature, limits and impact of empirical bioethics
Supervisors
RESPOND
Supervisors
What is "Moral Distress" in Nursing and How Should We Respond to It?
Supervisors
The BIRD Study
Supervisors
PrEPosterous?
Supervisors
Artificial intelligence use in clinical decision-making
Supervisors
Women’s and midwives’ views on the optimum process for informed consent for research that involves procedures initiated in the intrapartum period
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
13/05/2024Soft Gripping
2024 IEEE 7th International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)
Adaptable Robots, Ethics, and Trust
AI and Society
How do primary care clinicians approach hospital admission decisions for people in the final year of life? A systematic review and narrative synthesis
Palliative Medicine
Testicular tissue re-implantation and the 'hostile testis'
Human Reproduction
Translational bioethics
Bioethics
Teaching
Jon teaches on range of UG and PGT programmes at the University of Bristol, including the MCBhB, iBSc Bioethics, and various. MScs.
He runs the Bristol Medical School Short Course on 'Introduction to Empirical Bioethics', and delivers methods teaching worldwide, as well as guest lectures on a range of topics for public and private institutions.
He runs the Bristol Medical School Short Course on 'Introduction to Empirical Bioethics', and delivers methods teaching worldwide, as well as guest lectures on a range of topics for public and private institutions.