
Professor Jonathan Ives
BA, M.Phil, PhD(Birm.)
Expertise
Jon works across clinical & research ethics. He has expertise in empirical bioethics methodology, with research interests including AI in Health, best interests, moral distress, reproductive ethics, research ethics, & innovation.
Current positions
Professor of Empirical Bioethics and Head of Population Health Sciences
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Contact
Press and media
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Biography
Jon is Professor of Empirical Bioethics, Head of Population Health Sciences, and Deputy Head of Bristol Medical School. He initially trained in philosophy, and now works as an interdisciplinary bioethicist at the nexus of ethics and social science in healthcare, 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, mental health, and EDI. His work has been funded by, for example, the Wellcome Trust, NIHR, EPSRC, ESRC, AHRC.
Jon 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 Routledge Handbook of Empirical Bioethics.
Jon is Chair of the BNSSG Risk and Ethics Advisary Forum, Deputy Chair of the South West Secure Data Environment Data Access Committee, and a member of the NICE Highly Specialised Technologies Evaluation Committee. He sits on the Wellcome Trust Discovery Award Career Development panel, and is a member of Belgium's FWO Med8 funding panel. He has previously sat on the RCGP Medical Ethics Committee, and chaired the IME Grants and Awards Committee as a Trustee.
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, mental health, and EDI. His work has been funded by, for example, the Wellcome Trust, NIHR, EPSRC, ESRC, AHRC.
Jon 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 Routledge Handbook of Empirical Bioethics.
Jon is Chair of the BNSSG Risk and Ethics Advisary Forum, Deputy Chair of the South West Secure Data Environment Data Access Committee, and a member of the NICE Highly Specialised Technologies Evaluation Committee. He sits on the Wellcome Trust Discovery Award Career Development panel, and is a member of Belgium's FWO Med8 funding panel. He has previously sat on the RCGP Medical Ethics Committee, and chaired the IME Grants and Awards Committee as a Trustee.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Professional Standards Authority Workshop: Artificial intelligence - how to guide and regulate for health and social care professionals using AI
Principal Investigator
Role
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/01/2026 to 29/04/2026
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
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design 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
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
Infants with Intestinal Failure
Supervisors
PrEPosterous?
Supervisors
Sneaking off to Switzerland
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
29/04/2026Artificial intelligence - how to guide and regulate for health and social care professionals using AI
Rotten medical compromise and the instrumentalisation of P
Legal Studies
A multi-site evaluation of the governance of surgical innovation
British Journal of Surgery
The Governance of Surgical Innovation in the UK National Health Service
The British journal of surgery
Developing Professional Ethical Guidance for Healthcare AI Use (PEG-AI)
AI & Society: Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Communication
Teaching
Jon teaches on a range of UG and PGT programmes at the University of Bristol, including the MCBhB, iBSc Healthcare Ethics and Law (HEAL), and various Masters programmes.
He runs the Bristol Medical School Short Course on 'Introduction to Empirical Bioethics', and delivers methods teaching worldwide, as well as guest lecturing on a range of topics for public and private institutions.
Jon has been external examiner on multiple external programmes (including for KCL, Keele, Manchester, Oxford), and has examined numerous PhDs nationally and internationally.
He runs the Bristol Medical School Short Course on 'Introduction to Empirical Bioethics', and delivers methods teaching worldwide, as well as guest lecturing on a range of topics for public and private institutions.
Jon has been external examiner on multiple external programmes (including for KCL, Keele, Manchester, Oxford), and has examined numerous PhDs nationally and internationally.


