Jonathan D. Moreno is an American philosopher and historian who specializes in the intersection of bioethics, culture, science, and national security, and has published seminal works on the history, sociology and politics of biology and medicine. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Moreno is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is also he is also professor of medical ethics and health policy, of history and sociology of science, and of philosophy. Major contributions Called "the quietly most interesting bioethicist of our time" by The American Journal of Bioethics, Moreno has worked in bioethics in the United States and internationally. He was the co-chair of the U.S. National Academies committee that proposed the first rules governing embryonic stem cells research. As a member of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee he participated in drafting numerous reports, including a report on bioethics and the refugee crisis. In numerous books and papers on human radiation experiments, on chemical and biological weapons and on neurotechnology he has argued that national security considerations have been key factors in the history of bioethics. He has served as senior staff member or adviser to many governmental and non-governmental organizations, including three U.S. presidential commissions, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Moreno is currently a member of the Bayer Bioethics Council. Moreno was named an official "Mad Scientist" by the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command. In 2008-09 he served as a member of President Barack Obama's transition team and as the director of the Department of Health and Human Services Agency Review for Bioethics. Early life and education Jonathan D. Moreno was born and grew up in New York's Hudson Valley. His father, Jacob Levy Moreno, was a psychiatrist and the pioneer of psychodrama and sociometry, the precursor of social network theory. His father and mother, psychotherapist Zerka T. Moreno, worked closely together. Both of his parents emigrated to the United States from Europe before World War II. Moreno and his older sister, Regina Moreno, spent much of their childhood in Beacon, New York on the grounds of their parents' mental hospital and psychodrama training center. In Moreno's intellectual biography of his father, he recounts how growing up in that environment stimulated his interdisciplinary orientation and interest in cultures of science and social movements. Moreno attended Hofstra University where