SVOTS Professor Honored with Bioethics Award
Wake Forest scholar and Orthodox Christian bioethicist recognized for major contributions to ethics in human research.
YONKERS, NY — St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary has announced that Dr. Ana Iltis, a member of its faculty and a leading bioethicist at Wake Forest University, has been selected for the 2026 Paul Ramsey Award for Excellence in Bioethics. The annual award, presented by the Center for Bioethics and Culture and the Paul Ramsey Award Committee, recognizes individuals who have made significant, ongoing contributions to bioethical scholarship and public engagement.
Dr. Iltis serves as Professor of Philosophy in St. Vladimir’s Doctor of Ministry program and is the Carlson Professor of University Studies, Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Center for Bioethics, Health, and Society at Wake Forest University. A prominent scholar in both secular and Christian bioethics, her work focuses on the ethics of human research — particularly studies involving children, mental health, first-in-human trials, and risk assessment — as well as organ transplantation, emerging biotechnologies, and the role of religion in ethical decision-making.
She is Founding Co-Editor of Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics and serves as Associate Editor for both the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy and Christian Bioethics, in addition to co-editing the Annals of Bioethics series. Her recent publications include editing the Oxford Handbook of Research Ethics. A Rice University Ph.D. and Baylor College of Medicine-trained bioethicist, Dr. Iltis is also a past president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.
Dr. Iltis, along with her husband Steve and daughter Sophia, are members of Holy Cross Orthodox Church (OCA) in Kernersville, North Carolina. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of St. Vladimir’s.
She will receive the Paul Ramsey Award at the 2026 Paul Ramsey Dinner in East Bay, California, this April.
Previously, UOJ reported that a St. Vladimir's graduate had been consecrated to the episcopacy in Africa.
