GDO

Leadership

Yann Joly

Scientific Director

Joly

Title: Scientific Director
Speciality: Law, Bioethics, Public Policies
Country: Canada

Yann Joly, Ph.D. (DCL), FCAHS, Ad.E. is the Director of the Centre of Genomics and Policy (CGP) at McGill University. He is a James McGill Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Human Genetics. Prof. Joly is also an associate member of the Bioethics Unit and at the Law Faculty at McGill. He has a secondary appointment as adjunct professor at Yonsei University in South Korea. Prof. Joly was named advocatus emeritus by the Quebec Bar in 2012 and Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2017. He currently sits on the Board on Life Sciences of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences (NASEM).

In 2021 he received, the Canadian Science Policy Centre, Science Policy Trailblazer Award. Prof. Joly is a member of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCU) Sectoral Commission for Natural, Social and Human Sciences. He is the current Chair of the Bioethics Workgroup of the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) and Co-Lead the Regulatory and Ethics Work Stream of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH). He was Chair (2017–2019) of the Ethics and Governance Committee of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). He is also a member of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) Committee on Ethics, Law and Society (CELS).

Prof. Joly’s research interests lie at the interface of the fields of scientific knowledge, health law (biotechnology and other emerging health technologies) and bioethics. He created the first international genetic discrimination observatory in 2018. He has published his findings in over 200 peer-reviewed articles featured in top legal, ethical and scientific journals. He served as a legal advisor on multiple research ethics committees in the public and private sectors. Prof. Joly also sits on editorial committees and acts as a reviewer for a wide range of publications in his field. In 2012, he received the Quebec Bar Award of Merit (Innovation) for his work on the right to privacy in the biomedical field.

Lingqiao Song

Associate Director

Song

Title: Associate Director
Speciality: Law
Country: Canada
Establishment: McGill University

Dr. Song currently serves as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH). She is also an Academic Associate at the Center of Genomics and Policy (CGP) at McGill University and a legal consultant for the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association (CBA).

Dr. Song’s research interests lie at the interface of the fields of biotechnology, health law and bioethics. She joined the GDO in 2018. She also sits on editorial committees and acts as a reviewer for publications in the field.

Staff

Charles Selva-Rivero

Research Assistant

Selva-Rivero

Title: Research Assistant
Speciality: Bioethics
Country: Canada

Charles Selva-Rivero is a bioethicist specializing in artificial intelligence ethics, research ethics, and socially responsible innovation. He holds a Master’s degree in Bioethics from the Université de Montréal and a multidisciplinary bachelor’s degree combining public health, ethics and law, and philosophical and biochemical studies.

His work focuses on governance, normative frameworks, and the ethical oversight of emerging technologies. He has contributed to research ethics, data governance, and methodological development through roles at the Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS), the Bureau de la conduite responsable en recherche (BCRR), and various university teaching activities.

Charles also serves as Strategic Development and Partnerships Lead at Idoine, a social innovation startup, and has entrepreneurial experience in ethical algorithm design. His trajectory is informed by an interest in the governance of norms, power structures, and the societal implications of emerging technologies, drawing on contemporary thinkers in ethics, political philosophy, and science-technology studies.

He has participated in several international initiatives, including representing stakeholder and lobbying perspectives at Emory University’s Simuvaction on AI, Climate Resilience and Health Disparities in Atlanta, and engaging with global governance discussions through Model United Nations. He also has field experience in South Korea related to project development, technological governance, architecture, Smart Cities and intercultural engagement.

Ariel (Yunhe) Xue

Research Assistant

Xue

Title: Research Assistant
Speciality: Privacy & Data Sharing
Country: Canada

Yunhe Xue is currently pursuing the doctorate degree at the Université de Montréal at the faculty of law under the supervision of Prof. Pierre Larouche, with a focus on data sharing regulation and data governance. She has obtained the master of law at UdeM and the bachelor of law at East China Normal University in Shanghai. She’s always been interested in multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research on law and health, law and technology as well as law and economics, etc. Before joining the CGP, Yunhe also worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Studies on Artificial Intelligence and Law at Tsinghua University for more than two years.

Thalia Arawi

Arawi

Title: PhD
Speciality: Bioethics
Country: Lebanon
Establishment: American University of Beirut & Med. Center

Dr. Thalia (Talia) Arawi, (BA, Sociology, MA, Political and Moral Philosophy) PhDs (Philosophy and Bioethics) is Founding Director of the Salim El-Hoss Bioethics and Professionalism Program (SHBPP) at the American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center. The SHBPP, the first and only Regional Bioethics and Professionalism Program in the Arab Region, was recently announced as the first WHO Collaborating Center for Ethics in the Arab Region. Dr. Arawi is the first Arab to specialize in Bioethics. She is also the Clinical Bioethicist, Clinical Ethics Consultant and Certified Healthcare Mediator at AUBMC where she established the first Bed-Side Clinical Ethics Consultation Service in the Arab Region. Dr. Arawi is the first Arab member to be appointed on the Board of the International Association of Bioethics and is also a member of the American Society of Bioethics, the Canadian Society of Bioethics, the Provincial Health Ethics Network and, the UK Clinical Ethics Network, the Lebanese National Advisory Commission of the Ethics in Life Sciences and Healthcare, to mention but a few. She has also been elected as senior fellow at the ge2p2 global foundation for the advancement of ethical and scientific rigour in research and evidence generation for governance, policy and practice in human rights action, humanitarian response, health, education, heritage stewardship, and sustainable development – serving governments, international agencies, civil society organizations (csos), commercial entities, consortia and alliances then promoted to Senior Fellow. She is also a senior fellow at the ge2p2 Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Ethics. Dr. Arawi is also the first Arab consultant at the Center for Conflict Resolution in Healthcare LLC, Memphis, TN, and member of the WHO COVID-19 Ethics Working Group and was appointed as Liaison Officer and Bioethics Focal Point to the Prime Minister. Dr. Arawi is also a member of the WeCope (World Emergency COVID Pandemic Ethics Committee). She has participated in a multitude of national, regional and international conferences and has several publications on bioethics. Her research interests are mainly in the areas of clinical ethics, biomedical ethics, philosophy of medicine, humanitarian medicine, ethics and refugees, bioethics in conflict zones, ethics and mental health and medical education.

Mykhailo Arych

Arych

Title: Professor
Speciality: Economics, Insurance
Country: Ukraine
Establishment: Nat'l University of Food Technologies

Dr. Mykhailo Arych is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Finance, Institute of Economics and Management, National University of Food Technologies (Ukraine). In 2012, he graduated from the Bucovina State Finance and Economic University (since 2016 included in the Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University) with a master's degree in Finance and Credit (Economics). In 2015, he obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from the National University of Food Technologies (2015). For more than eight years, Dr. Arych has been teaching Finance, Insurance and Insurance services. His primary research interests include insurance markets, genetic testing and discrimination in insurance, and agricultural insurance. He was also a co-investigator of the research grant funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for the research entitled 'Comprehensive assessment of the insurance market and development of recommendations for improvements of competitiveness of Ukraine's insurance in the context of European integration' (2017 - 2019). Dr. Arych is a co-author of a book entitled 'Competitiveness of the insurance market of Ukraine in the conditions of intensification of globalization processes: a collective monograph' (2020). Since 2013, he is a member of the organizing committee of the annual international scientific conferences at the National University of Food Technologies. Since September 2019, he is also a member of the Academic Council of the Institute of Economics and Management. In June 2020, Dr. Arych received the Fellowship of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine for young scientists.

Bénédicte Bévière Boyer

Boyer

Title: Lecturer
Speciality: Law
Country: France
Establishment: Université de Paris 8

Bénédicte BEVIERE-BOYER is a lecturer in private law at the University of Paris 8 Law Faculty and Deputy Director of the Centre de recherches juridique de droit privé et droit de la santé (EA1581). Her research work focuses mainly on bioethics law, ethics and digital technology. She has written various articles on research, innovation, digital technology, health data, the care relationship, fundamental principles of personal protection, assisted reproduction, pre-implantation diagnosis, organ donation, etc. She has organized several conferences on Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Sovereignty, Digital Responsibility, Aging, etc., as well as a two-year cycle of conferences on bioethics at the Court of Cassation, which will continue with another cycle of conferences on digital issues. For several years now, she has also been organizing academic exchanges with Chinese universities (conferences, collective works).

Aisling De Paor

De Paor

Title: Lecturer
Speciality: Law
Country: Ireland
Establishment: Dublin City University

B.C.L., LL.M., Ph.D., Solicitor

Aisling is Associate Professor of Law at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, where she lectures modules including ‘Genetics Law and Society’ and ‘Medical Law and Bioethics.’

Aisling graduated from National University of Ireland, Galway with a law degree (B.C.L.) in 2005 and graduated from University College Cork with a masters in law (LL.M.) in 2006. She is a qualified Solicitor (Law Society of Ireland) and trained in a large commercial law firm in Dublin (2006 – 2009). In 2013 Aisling defended her PhD (funded by the Irish Research Council), entitled ‘Advancing Science and Controlling the Misuse of Genetic Information in Employment and Insurance – Towards an Effective European Union Regulatory Framework.’

From 2009 to 2014 Aisling was a part-time Lecturer in Law at the School of Law, NUI Galway, and also worked as a Research Assistant at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy, NUI Galway (2009 – 2010). She is an honorary fellow and an affiliated researcher of the Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University, New York and was a visiting scholar at this Institute in October 2012, May 2014 and June 2018.

Aisling’s research interests lie in the fields of genetics law and policy and medical law. She has published widely in these fields in journals including the European Journal of Health Law, the Journal of Community Genetics and the Irish Journal of Medical Science. Aisling is author of a book entitled ‘Genetics, Disability and the Law – Towards an EU Legal Framework’ (Cambridge University Press 2017) and co- editor of a book entitled ‘Genetic Discrimination – Transatlantic Perspectives on the Case for a European Level Legal Response’ (Routledge 2014). She speaks regularly at conferences and other events in Ireland, Europe and internationally.

Dov Greenbaum

Greenbaum

Title: Professor
Speciality: Law, Genetic, Bioinformatics
Country: Israel
Establishment: Zvi Meitar Institute, Reichman University

Dov Greenbaum has undergraduate degrees in economics and biology from Yeshiva University and a doctorate in bioinformatics/genetics from Yale University. Dov also has a law degree with a focus on intellectual property from the University of California, Berkeley. Subsequent to his degrees, Dov had two postdoctoral appointments, one at Stanford University and the second at ETH Zurich, both synthesized science, technology, law and society. Dov practiced law for two years at a large multinational law firm in Silicon Valley where he was involved in complex high-stakes civil litigation. Dov continued his practice in Israel, drafting and prosecuting patents in biotech and hitech innovations, including complex algorithms, robotics and missile defense. Currently, Dov is a professor of law and the director of the Zvi Meitar Institute, an academic institute at Reichman University (IDC) a non-government funded private university in the heart of Israel’s technological center. The Institute is broadly interested in the ethical, social and legal concerns arising from new and emerging technologies. To this end, the institute works with stakeholders in in the areas of genomics, blockchain, predictive analytics, autonomous vehicles, AI, VR, AR, deep learning, and other emergent technologies. Dov also has an appointment at Yale University in the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry.

Hrefna D. Gunnarsdóttir

Gunnarsdóttir

Title: PhD Candidate
Speciality: Law
Country: Iceland

Hrefna D. Gunnarsdóttir is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Iceland and a researcher at WELMA – Centre for Legal Studies in Welfare and Market at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen (UCPH). In her research Hrefna focuses on statutory requirements for science, ethics and technology, particularly in relation to scientific research in the field of health, the use of health data, research reciprocity and the welfare of research participants and patients. Hrefna’s research has been published in Journal of Law and the Biosciences, Medical Law International and the Cambridge Handbook of Information Technology, Life Sciences and Human Rights. She speaks regularly at conferences, serves as a board member for the Nordic Per Med Law - a network working with legislation for modern medicine, and contributes to various subgroups of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health. Hrefna is a member of IASC's Justice in the Arctic Working Group and is specifically interested in data governance and research reciprocity in the environmental, societal and cultural context of the circumpolar North.

Prior to academia, Hrefna practiced as an Attorney-at-Law at Réttur - Aðalsteinsson & Partners, a litigation and human rights law firm based in Reykjavík, Iceland. She has contributed to policy making and research of the Icelandic government, the Icelandic Bar Association, and the Human Rights Institute at the Univ. of Iceland. Her professional experience also includes variety of cross-sectoral projects in different regional and country contexts ranging between the archipelago of Svalbard and Tamil Nadu in India. She has held two consultancies with the UNHCR and provided legal advice in the Moria detention camp on behalf of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe via European Lawyers in Lesvos, Greece.

Hrefna holds a PhD from the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen which she undertook at the Center for Advanced Studies in Biomedical Innovation Law (CeBIL), MA in Disaster Management from the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at UCPH and Mag. Juris and BA in Law from the University of Iceland. She was admitted to the Icelandic Bar Association in 2013.

Calvin Ho

Title: Professor
Speciality: Law
Country: Australia
Establishment: Monash University

Dr Calvin Ho is Associate Professor with the Faculty of Law of The University of Hong Kong, Co-Head of the Accountability Policy Task Team of the Global Alliance for Genomics & Health, and a member of the Ethics Review Board of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). He was the co-Head (from 2014-2019) of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Bioethics in Singapore and have also served on national advisory committees on medical ethics, transplantation and genetic testing of the Ministry of Health of Singapore. Calvin’s research interests are in regulatory governance and biomedical law and ethics, with focus on emergent technologies (particularly data analytics and AI). He is a co-editor of Bioethics in Singapore (World Scientific, 2010) and Genetic Privacy (Imperial, 2013), the author of Juridification in Bioethics (Imperial, 2016) and an author of WHO Guidelines on Ethical Issues in Public Health Surveillance (World Health Organization 2017).

Chih-hsing Ho

Title: Professor
Speciality: Law
Country: Taiwan
Establishment: Academia Sinica

Dr. Chih-hsing Ho is Associate Research Fellow/ Associate Professor at Academia Sinica, Taiwan. Her research focuses on the nexus of law and medicine in general, with particular attention to the governance of genomics and newly emerging technologies, such as biobanks, big data and artificial intelligence (AI). She is currently a member of the Biobank Ethics Review Board at the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) in Taiwan and a member of the Ethics and Governance Council (EGC) of the Taiwan Biobank. Since 2015, she has been a PI in law for a health cloud project in Taiwan and is responsible for designing an adequate regulatory framework for the secondary use of health data and data linkage. She holds a Ph.D. in law from the London School of Economics (LSE) where she was an Olive Stone Scholar and an awardee of the Morris Finer Memorial Fellowship. She obtained her first law degree from Taiwan and later received her LLM from Columbia Law School and a JSM from Stanford University. Since 2016, she has served as Associate Editor at the Editorial Board of ELSI in Science and Genetics- Frontiers. Before moving back to Taipei in 2014, she worked at the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law (CMEL) at the University of Hong Kong. Her works appear in many renowned international journals, such as BMC Medical Ethics, Medical Law International, Frontiers in Genetics, Asian Bioethics Review, and the Journal of Law, Information and Science.

Pilar Nicolás Jiménez

Jiménez

Title: Researcher
Speciality: Law
Country: Spain
Establishment: University of the Basque Country

Academic background:

Degree in Law (University Complutense of Madrid), PhD in Law (University of Deusto, Bilbao).

Current position:

Permanent Senior research fellow. Public Law Department. Faculty of Law. University of the Basque Country. Spain. Member of the Chair in Law and the Human Genome, University of the Basque Country.

Current teaching:

Graduate level: Criminal Law in the Faculty of Law of the University of the Basque Country.
Postgraduate level: Biolaw in Master Programs (several Spanish and Latinoamerican universities).

Research:

Participation in several research projects supported by public institutions at national and international levels related to health and genetic data protection, patient’s rights, biobanks, personalized medicine or cross border health care.

Publications:

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4166-5941

Other activities:

Member of the Ethics Committee of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministry of Science and Innovation. Spain) and of the Ethics Committee of the University of the Basque Country. Member of the Scientific External Committee of the National Platform of Biobanks (Instituto de Salud Carlos III). Member of the Ethics and Governance Committee of the International Cancer Genome Consortium. Chair of the Legal and Ethical Advisory Board of the Rare Anaemias Disorders European Epidemiological Platform. Member of the ELSI WP of the European 1 Million Genomes Initiative.

She has collaborated with the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation in the preparation of the Spanish Law 14/2007 on Biomedical Research and of the Royal Decree approved on 18 November 2011 on biobanks.

Kazuto Kato

Kato

Title: Professor
Speciality: Law
Country: Japan
Establishment: Osaka University

Kazuto Kato, Ph.D., is Professor of Biomedical Ethics and Public Policy at the Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University. He is also a Project Professor of the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) at Kyoto University. He has a PhD degree in developmental biology from Kyoto University. After finishing postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge with Professor John Gurdon, he started to work in the interface between bioscience and society, focusing on ethical and social issues of genomics and stem cell research. Prof. Kato is a member of various international projects/academic societies such as Research Ethics Committee, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) and Ethics and Policy Committee, ICGC (International Cancer Genome Consortium). In 2010, he was appointed as a member of the Expert Panel on Bioethics of the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP) of the Cabinet Office, Japan. Currently, he leads a research group, the Research Unit of the ELSI (ethical, legal and social implications) of genomics, with the funding from the MEXT.

Hannah Kim

Kim

Title: Research Associate Professor
Speciality: Bioethics, Medicine and Public Policies
Country: Republic of Korea
Establishment: Yonsei University

Hannah Kim is a research associate professor at the Department of Medical Law and Ethics, Division of Medical Humanities and Society, College of Medicine, at Yonsei University, South Korea. She studied medicine and holds a PhD in healthcare law from Yonsei University. She worked as a Fellow at Department of Medical Law and Ethics at Yonsei University in 2016 –2017. She was a member of Advisory Committee for DTC-GT under the Ministry of Health and Welfare in South Korea. She worked as a visiting scholar at the Centre of Genomics and Policy in 2018. 6. – 2019. 5.

Since 2011, she has focused on ethical, legal and social issues surrounding gene editing, direct-to-consumer genetic testing, 3D bioprinting technology, precision medicine, intellectual property rights, universal health coverage, genetic discrimination, data sharing and privacy, from several ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) projects.

Michal Koscik

Koscik

Title: Chair of the Board of Research Ethics
Speciality: Health Law, Technology Law and Public Health
Country: Czech Republic
Establishment: Masaryk University

Michal Koscik is an expert in health law, technology law, and public health. He currently serves as the Head of the Department of Public Health and as Chair of the Board of Research Ethics at Masaryk University's Faculty of Medicine, holding pivotal roles in academic leadership at one of the largest universities in Central Europe. Additionally, he works as an external lecturer at both the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Pharmacy, while also leading a research group at the Systemic Risk Institute (SYRI).

Michal's research focus centers around barriers to healthcare and patient access to advanced treatments. As a researcher and contributor to the Central European Advanced Therapy and Immunology Centre (CREATIC), he bridges theory with tangible impact.

Michal holds a Master's degree in Law, a Ph.D. in Legal Theory, and a degree in Economics. He is also an author and co-author of more than 40 research papers, contributing significantly to the academic discourse in his fields of expertise. Furthermore, his participation in over 20 research projects, many of which are international and interdisciplinary, showcases his commitment to pushing the boundaries of knowledge.

Juan Alberto Lecaros

Lecaros

Title: Professor
Speciality: Bioethics
Country: Chile
Establishment: University of Desarrollo

Dr. Lecaros is an Associate Professor and researcher at the Bioethics Center of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Desarrollo and a lawyer at the University of Chile (Santiago, Chile). He is also the Director of the Observatory of the Bioethics and Law. He obtained a Master in Bioethics at the Borja Institute of Bioethics, Ramon Llull University (Barcelona, Spain), and a PhD in Philosophy, Complutense University of Madrid (Madrid, Spain). Dr. Lecaros received the Award for Excellence in Bioethics Manuel Velasco Suárez 2012, PAHEF/OPS. He is a co-founder of the International Network of Biolaw at Santiago, Chile, an international academic organization that benefits from the epistemological support and participation of world-renowned scholars and specialists on biolaw and bioethics.

His research group focuses on legal innovation in the area of biomedicine and biotechnology, with special emphasis on bench-based science and translational research. In the last five years, his research has been focused on regulatory proposals to improve and develop national regulations on biomedical research. In 2014, his group published a report with proposals to improve the regulation of the biomedical research law and update the technical standard in clinical research. This report was a collaborative and interdisciplinary work associated with the National Drug Authority (ANAMED, ISP). In 2016, his group published a report with regulatory proposals to use human biological specimens and biobanks for research and, in 2018, a report with regulatory proposals for regenerative medicine for Chile. Currently, his group is preparing a proposal for legal regulation and technical standards in research biobanks for the Center for Translational Biotechnology, a platform created National Agency of Research of the Ministry of Science, Chile. In addition, he collaborates with the Chilean Council for Transparency on recommendations to use health data in health emergencies and its secondary use for research.

Observatory of Bioethics and Law at the Institute of Science and Innovation in Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Desarrollo: https://medicina.udd.cl/icim/areas-de-investigacion/#!/modal/9406/observatorio-de-bioetica-y-derecho

Timo Minssen

Minssen

Title: Professor
Speciality: Law and Emerging Health Technologies
Country: Denmark
Establishment: University of Copenhagen

Originating from German and Sweden, Timo Minssen is a Professor in Technology Law at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark, and the Founding Director of UCPH's Center for Advanced Studies in Bioscience Innovation Law (CeBIL). He is also a Research Affiliate at the University of Cambridge and Harvard Law School. Specializing in Intellectual Property-, Competition-, Data Protection and Regulatory Law, his studies concentrate on a plethora of legal issues emerging in the lifecycle of high technology products and processes - from the regulation of research and incentives for innovation, to technology transfer and commercialization. He focuses in particular on highly regulated sectors, such as emerging technologies in the health and life sciences. At UCPH he leads large interdisciplinary research projects examining legal issues in various applications of AI, quantum technologies, advanced medical computing, synthetic biology, genome editing, precision medicine, biologics, and research infrastructures. He is also the PI of a large international and collaborative research program that is funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and involves an international network of renowned core-partners including inter alia the University of Cambridge, Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, and the Danish Technical University (DTU). Moreover, he is scientific advisory board member of the Copenhagen Centre for Regulatory Sciences, the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC), and a steering committee member of the Danish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property. Timo has also served as legal advisor in the private sector, as well as in several WHO AI committees, EU Commission studies, and national committees.

Palmira Granados Moreno

Moreno

Title: Academic Associate
Speciality: Law
Country: Mexico
Establishment: McGill University

Palmira Granados Moreno is an academic associate at the Centre of Genomics and Policy of McGill University, where she has worked for the past 7 years. She is a Mexican lawyer specialised in intellectual property and new technologies and a Doctor of Civil Law candidate at the Faculty of Law at McGill University under the supervision of Professor Richard Gold. Her research focuses on the interface of intellectual property and medicine and access to healthcare; commercialisation, valorisation, and open science; genetic discrimination; ethics and genetics; public-private partnerships; and medical devices regulation. Prior to working at the Centre of Genomics and Policy, she was a member of the International Expert Group of the Innovation Partnership, the New Researchers Group of VALGEN, Creative Commons Mexico, and the Free Software Foundation. She also worked at a Mexican law firm in the area of intellectual property and information technology and was a lecturer at renowned university in Mexico.

Katharina Ó Cathaoir

Ó Cathaoir

Title: Professor
Speciality: Law
Country: Denmark
Establishment: University of Copenhagen

Katharina Ó Cathaoir, PhD, is Assistant Professor in Health Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, where she researches in Danish and global health law, with a focus on the implications of Big Data for the human rights of patients. Katharina contributes to several interdisciplinary projects spanning obesity provision, genomic medicine, data sharing and use of algorithms in treatment and research. Her research analyses to what extent legal norms, like informed consent and the right to data protection, are implicated and in need of renegotiation in light of emerging health technologies.

https://jura.ku.dk/english/staff/research/?pure=en/persons/472315

Margaret Otlowski

Otlowski

Title: Professor
Speciality: Law
Country: Australia
Establishment: University of Tasmania

Margaret is Professor of Law at the University of Tasmania (formerly Law Dean), Deputy Director, Centre for Law and Genetics and Pro Vice Chancellor, Culture and Wellbeing. She has longstanding experience in health law and ethics, publishing extensively in the field. She led an empirical interdisplinary research project funded by the Australian Research Council exploring the occurrence of genetic discrimination in Australia (2002-2004). She has been engaged by Commonwealth and State governments and agencies as consultant and member for various national committees including the National Health and Medical Research Councils Human Genetic Advisory Committee (2009-2015). She has held quasi-judicial roles including as member of the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal and is the Chair of the Australian Genetic Non-Discrimination Working Group. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

Athira P.S.

P.S.

Title: Professor
Speciality: Law
Country: India
Establishment: National University of Advanced Legal Studies

She was awarded PhD in Law from the Department of Law, University of Kerala, for her doctoral thesis on "Stem Cell Research: Legal Dimensions". She completed her LL.M. in Constitutional and Administrative Law on merit scholarship, securing First Rank with Distinction from the Department of Law, University of Kerala and her LL.B with Second Rank from the University of Kerala. She was awarded the Sachivothama Shashtiabdapurthi Memorial Prize Gold Medal, Justice Muthunayagom Memorial Prize, Justice T Krishnan Nair Memorial Gold Medal Endowment, Justice M. Fathima Beevi Endowment and Malloor K. Govinda Pillai Gold Medal for Law from the University of Kerala.

She has been an invited speaker and delegate in many international forums such as the International Research Conference held under the aegis of the National University of Singapore and the 49th Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health Conference (APACPH) 2017, held in Yonsei University International Campus, Korea. She has to her credit many publications in reputed International and National Law Journals. She has participated as resource person in training programmes as well as international and national seminars conducted by organizers such as the Institute for Shipboard Education and University of Virginia, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology School of Law, Department of Law, University of Kerala, School of Legal Studies, CUSAT among others. She has also presented peer-reviewed papers in international and national seminars and has attended UGC refresher courses and several faculty development programmes.

She had participated in moot courts during her graduation and won prizes for presentation as well as memorials in international and national Moot court competitions.

During her tenure in NUALS, she has organized many academic programmes including international and national seminars, workshops, essay competitions, IP-specific talk shows etc, as the Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Rights. Even prior to that she had organized the first of its kind national seminar in Kerala, on the legal status and rights of sexual minorities.

She is a member of the NUALS Research Committee and is a Research Guide in the University. She is a member of the UG Board of Studies, and also been in the organizing committees of many institutional programmes such as Annual Convocations and Moot Court Competitions.

As the Faculty-in-charge of Alumni NUALS, she had organized the First Alumni Meet of the University in November, 2017.

Her areas of interest include Intellectual Property Law, Health and Bioethics, and Equality of Rights.

Anya Prince

Prince

Title: Professor
Speciality: Health & Biotechnology Law & Bioethics
Country: United States
Establishment: University of Iowa

Professor Prince’s teaching and research interests explore health and genetic privacy, with a particular focus on genetic discrimination, the health privacy implications of big data, and the ethical, legal, and social implications of genomic testing. Her research particularly explores the intersections of social and biological data by interrogating the ethical and legal implications of how genetic data can be used to predict social traits and behaviors and, conversely, how social data can be used to predict medical information, including reproductive information. Her interdisciplinary work has been published in legal, bioethics, and medical journals, including the Boston College Law Review, North Carolina Law Review, Iowa Law Review, JAMA, the American Journal of Bioethics, Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, and Genetics in Medicine.

In 2022, she was awarded a four-year R01 grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the ethical, legal, and social implications of sociogenomic polygenic scores. In 2023, she was awarded a Bridging Bioethics, Research & Policymaking grant from the Greenwall Foundation to develop resources regarding state-level genetic privacy legislation. In addition to these grants, Professor Prince is an investigator, consultant, or advisory board member on multiple other NIH-funded projects. She had previously been awarded a Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) from NHGRI to examine the use of genetic information by life, long-term care, and disability insurers.

Nguyễn Thái Cường

Thái Cường

Title: PhD
Speciality: Law
Country: Vietnam
Establishment: Ho Chi Minh City University

Dr. Nguyễn Thái Cường (PhD Toulouse, Brighton, Munchen) is a Lecturer at the HCMC University of Law. He was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Toulouse, France in 2016 and was a Scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Germany, in 2015.

His research focuses on intellectual property, copyright law, patent law, contract law and Arbitration. He is a correspondent for the GRUR International Journal and a peer reviewer for the Science & Technology Development Journal (STDJ) (1859-0128), Vietnam National University (VNU), Vietnam. He is a member of the Bioethics Council, VNU and Head of research, sponsored by Ministry of Education of Vietnam, hosted by Ho Chi Minh University of Law. Dr Nguyễn is a visiting Professor at University of Toulouse, France and at the International University, VNU.

Donrich Thaldar

Thaldar

Title: Full Professor
Speciality: Health Law & Ethics Research
Country: South Africa
Establishment: University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban

Donrich Thaldar is Full Professor of Law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. He has published over 70 articles in local and international academic journals, and is the Principal Investigator of a research project on the legal aspects of the use of data science in health innovation in Africa, funded by the NIH. He also has a private legal practice, and has served as legal counsel in 18 reported cases.

For more information, visit www.thaldar.com.

Jane Tiller

Tiller

Title: Public health researcher
Speciality: Law
Country: Australia
Establishment: Monash University

Jane Tiller (LLB(Hons)/BSc/MGenCouns) is an Australian lawyer and genetic counsellor with a background in corporate law and a keen interest in the regulatory and ethical aspects of genomics. She is a founding member of the Australian Genetic Non-Discrimination Working Group and gave evidence to the recent Parliamentary Inquiry into the Life Insurance industry.

Jane currently undertakes a number of diverse roles, including Ethical, Legal and Social Adviser in Public Health Genomics at Monash University and Senior Project Coordinator - Policy and Ethics, with Australian Genomics. She has conducted numerous research studies regarding genetic discrimination in life insurance, and has recently commenced a research project, funded by the Australian Government Medical Research Futures Fund, monitoring the effectiveness of the genetics and life insurance moratorium. Jane is also undertaking her PhD.

Augusto Valderrama

Valderrama

Title: PhD
Speciality: Human Genomics, Public Health
Country: Colombia
Establishment: Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá)

Dr. Augusto Valderrama is a Professor and the Scientific Research Director in the Faculty of Health at the University of Santiago de Cali (Colombia). Dr. Valderrama holds an M.Sc. in basic medical sciences (Immunology and Molecular Biology), a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences (Human Genomics and Public Health), and was a Postdoc, Fulbright visiting scholar, at the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA).

Most of his 20-year experience as a biomedical researcher focuses on translational research for neglected infectious and noninfectious diseases in underserved populations, with a particular interest in the implementation of cutting-edge technologies to foster quality of life and industrial development. His expertise also focuses on the convergence of biomedical sciences with the community and public health sciences, in areas like molecular epidemiology or community precision medicine. He has been a member of multiple national (Colciencias) and international (USA, Peru, Brazil, Mexico) evaluation panels, and an invited editor and reviewer of well-renowned international scientific publications (e.g., PLOSone, BMC Genomics). Dr. Valderrama has also been a longtime collaborator on Chocogen, a research project that aims to facilitate genetic studies on a predominantly Afro-Colombian population (https://www.chocogen.com/ ). Dr. Valderrama has a long-standing interest in legal and ethical questions regarding the use of genetic information in medicine and research, and is interested in promoting the development of a legal framework to prevent genetic discrimination in Colombia.

Ine Van Hoyweghen

Van Hoyweghen

Title: Professor
Speciality: Sociology
Country: Belgium
Establishment: KU Leuven

Ine Van Hoyweghen is Research Professor at the Centre for Sociological Research (University of Leuven) where she directs the Life Sciences & Society Lab. She is a leading and internationally-renowned researcher in sociology of biomedicine, science and technology studies (STS), and sociology of health care innovation. Her main research activities concentrate on the social implications of biomedicine (genomics, digital health, personalised medicine). She published among other issues on topics such as genetic discrimination, behaviour-based personalisation, solidarity in Personalised Medicine, EU digital health innovation policies, health care delivery of genetic testing, epigenetics, citizen science, and global health. She is the PI of the project “Postgenomic Solidarity. European Life Insurance in the Era of Personalised Medicine”, for which she received a prestigious Odysseus grant by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). Van Hoyweghen is the author of many books, including Risks in the Making. Travels in Life Insurance and Genetics (Amsterdam University Press, 2007), Making Global Health Care Innovation Work. Standardization and Localization (2014, Palgrave, with Engel, N. & Krumeich, A.), Citizen Science (2019, with Gijsel, L. & Huyse, T.) and Shifting Solidarities. Trends and Developments in European Societies (2019, Palgrave, with Pulignano, V.). Her research has been supported by the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO), the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), the European Commission (FP7, Horizon 2020, COST), and other bodies. Many of these research projects did include collaborations across disciplinary boundaries. Van Hoyweghen is (founding) Board Member of the Leuven Institute for Genomics and Society (LIGAS) and Chair of the Leuven Interdisciplinary Platform for the Study of the Sciences (LIPSS). She is Alumnus Member of the Young Academy of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts (KVAB), Member of the Belgian Consultative Committee on Bioethics (2019-2023), and (founding) President of the Belgian Science, Technology & Society Network (www.bsts.be).

Torsten Voigt

Voigt

Title: Professor
Speciality: Sociology
Country: Germany
Establishment: RWTH Aachen University

Torsten H. Voigt is a university professor of sociology and the chair of technology and diversity at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. His research interests lie at the interface of science and technology studies, medical sociology, and social theory. He is particularly interested in biotechnological innovations---specifically medical and forensic genetics as well as neuroscience---and how they relate to and are influenced by societal norms and values. He has published extensively on the societal and ethical implications of DNA testing.

Chisato Yamasaki

Yamasaki

Title: Researcher
Speciality: Law
Country: Japan
Establishment: NIBIOHN

Chisato is a research coordinator of the Center for Rare Disease Research, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition (NIBIOHN), Osaka, Japan. She has former experience as a research associate at the Department of Biomedical Ethics and Public Policy, Prof. Kazuto Kato's Lab. at Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, and as a molecular biologist and dry database curator. She was involved in the bioethics issues related to human genome research and now works on an intractable disease patient database for Japanese patients. Her research focuses on the following topics:

i) laws and regulations for human genome research;

ii) database policies for data-sharing (data access and uses) of human gene/variation/phenotype databases;

iii) Ethical, Legal, Social Implications (ELSI) issues related to human genomes and genetics in general;

iv) intractable disease patients database-related issues.

Christian Byk

Byk

Title: PhD
Speciality: Law
Country: France

Bartha M. Knoppers

Knoppers

Title: PhD
Speciality: Law, Ethics, Public Policy
Country: Canada

Erisa Mwaka

Mwaka

Title: PhD
Speciality: Bioethics
Country: Uganda
Establishment: Makerere University Kampala

Dr. Mwaka Erisa Sabakaki, PhD, is a clinician, academician and bioethicist. He is an orthopaedic surgeon and Associate Professor of Human Anatomy. He chairs the Makerere University School of Biomedical Sciences Research Ethics Committee and is a member of the Forum for Research Ethics Committee Chairs in Uganda and a member of the Bioethics Working Group at Uganda National Council for Science and Technology. He is faculty to the US Fogarty International Centre (FIC) funded International Health Research Ethics Training (IHRET) Master’s program at Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS). He is a co-investigator and coordinator of the FIC PhD in Bioethics training program at MakCHS. He is a member of the African Ethics Working Group that provides ethics guidance to the Neuropsychiatric Genetics of African Populations-Psychosis (NeuroGAP) project that is currently being implemented in four African countries. He is an H3 Africa Principal investigator and Chair of the H3Africa Community Engagement and Ethics Working group. His research interests include research ethics; the ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) of biobanking and genomic research; clinical ethics; mental health ethics; mobile health ethics; human anatomy; medical education; and bone health.

Woodlyn Orvil

Orvil

Title: Bcomm
Speciality: Sickle Cell Anemia Association of Quebec
Country: Canada

Misha Rashkin

Rashkin

Title: MS, CGC.
Speciality: Genetic Counseling
Country: United States
Establishment: Stanford Health Care

Misha Rashkin, MS, CGC, graduated from the Icahn School of Medicine Masters program in genetic counseling in 2013. He is a clinical genetic counselor in oncology at Stanford HealthCare and his research interests center on population scale use of genetic information, as well as interventions to improve the quality, accessibility, and efficiency of oncologic genetic counseling. Misha has held clinical, research, and policy roles in both academic medicine and the private sector. Misha was a member of the Mount Sinai Institutional Review Board in 2013. He was awarded the New Leader award from the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) in 2016, and chaired the Public Policy Committee for the NSGC in 2018. Misha lectures on privacy and genetic discrimination for genetic counseling graduate students, and has been published in the Journal of Genetic Counseling and Genetics in Medicine.

Mark A. Rothstein

Rothstein

Title: JD
Speciality: Law
Country: United States

Jacques Simard

Simard

Title: PhD
Speciality: Oncogenetics
Country: Canada

Katherine Wilemon

Wilemon

Title:
Speciality: Family Heart Foundation
Country: United States
Establishment: Family Heart Foundation

Wichayada Amponkitwiwat

Amponkitwiwat

Title: LL.M.
Speciality: Law and public policy development
Country: Thailand
Establishment: Thailand Development Research Institute

I am a researcher in the Law for Development Program at Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), Thailand. I hold an LL.M. from Chiang Mai University and dual bachelor’s degrees in law and information and communication technology from the University of Phayao. My research focuses on law and public policy development, data governance, personal data protection, labour protection, and regulatory frameworks supporting inclusive economic and social development. I have contributed as a co-researcher to multiple national research projects involving legal reform, data-sharing frameworks, statistical law development, personal data protection guidelines under Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act, and policy measures supporting start-up competitiveness and clean energy access in the Eastern Economic Corridor. I have also participated in policy-oriented research supporting legislative development concerning labour protection, media governance, and public-sector regulatory evaluation. In addition, I served as a subcommittee member under the Subcommittee on Strengthening Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises within the House of Representatives’ Committee on Economic Development, contributing to policy discussions supporting SME development.

My academic publications include research on legal protections for human rights defenders and governance challenges relating to emerging risks in digital media environments. Through my participation in the Genetic Discrimination Observatory, I am particularly interested in contributing perspectives on data governance, privacy protection, and regulatory safeguards relating to the responsible use and sharing of genetic information, especially in the context of Thailand and the broader Southeast Asian region, and in supporting comparative research addressing risks of discrimination arising from the use of sensitive personal data.

Amnah Azahar

Azahar

Title: Bioethicist
Speciality: Health Ethics
Country: Malaysia
Establishment: Universiti Teknologi MARA

Dr. Amnah Azahar is a medical doctor and bioethicist serving as a lecturer in the Department of Medical Ethics and Law at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. Her early clinical experiences sparked a deeper interest in the ethical aspects of patient care and research, leading her to transition from clinical practice to academic teaching and scholarship in medical ethics. She holds a Master of Science in Medical Ethics and Jurisprudence, and her scholarly work connects the fields of medicine, law, and ethics.

She actively participates in national and institutional research governance, currently serving as a member of research ethics committees at both the faculty and national levels. Alongside her teaching responsibilities, she provides expert advice on clinical and research ethics, supporting ethical decision-making in academic and healthcare settings.

Her research interests include research ethics, biobanking, health policy, and the ethical considerations of artificial intelligence in healthcare. She focuses on fostering ethically responsible practices across clinical care, public health, and new technologies, aiming to support policies and practices that protect human dignity, autonomy, and justice.

Yvonne Bombard

Bombard

Title: Professor
Speciality: Health Policy Management and Evaluation
Country: Canada
Establishment: University of Toronto

Dr. Bombard is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in the Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation and a Scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital.

Dr. Bombard is an international authority on genetic discrimination. She pioneered research on genetic discrimination when she conducted the first empirical study on genetic discrimination in Canada. Dr. Bombard’s landmark research on genetic discrimination provided crucial evidence for international clinical practice guidelines and provincial and federal legislation on genetic discrimination in Canada. Her work and testimonies to the Parliament of Canada’s Senate helped pass the historic Genetic Non-Discrimination Act of 2017. For these contributions, Dr. Bombard was awarded the inaugural recipient of the Maurice McGregor Award for Demonstrated Excellence and Leadership Potential from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) and also received a ‘Rising Star’ award from CIHR’s Institute of Health Services and Policy Research in 2011.

Dr. Bombard’s current research focuses on evaluating the adoption of new genomic technologies in clinical practice. She also conducts public and patient engagement research to advance health technology assessment and health service delivery. Dr. Bombard is active in numerous international policy advisory committees; her research informs policy development in this area. This program of research is supported by a CIHR Foundation grant; she also holds a CIHR New Investigator Award.

Dr. Bombard holds a Fellowship from Yale University (Health Policy), a Fellowship from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (Cancer Genomics) and a Fellowship from the University of Toronto (Health Services Research).

Bongkoch Dararut

Dararut

Title: Assistant Dean
Speciality: Law
Country: Thailand
Establishment: Thaksin University

I am the Assistant Dean and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Thaksin University, Thailand. I obtained both my LL.B. and LL.M. degrees from Chiang Mai University. My academic work focuses on human rights law, community rights, environmental governance, and legal protection for vulnerable and marginalised populations, particularly ethnic and indigenous communities in Thailand. I have served as a principal investigator on research projects supported by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation addressing inequality in housing security and access to livelihoods among the Urak Lawoi community in southern Thailand, as well as projects developing community health knowledge and wellbeing mapping for indigenous populations. In addition, I have participated as a co-researcher in several interdisciplinary research projects relating to environmental governance, nationality law and access to legal status, climate justice, community justice systems, urban inequality, and policy development to promote health equity among ethnic and migrant populations.

My academic publications also include work examining legal measures to protect human rights defenders from strategic litigation and other forms of intimidation. Through my participation in the Genetic Discrimination Observatory, I am particularly interested in contributing perspectives on equality, access to justice, and rights-based safeguards for vulnerable populations in the context of emerging legal and ethical challenges associated with the use of genetic information, especially within Thailand and the broader Southeast Asian region, and in supporting international collaboration on strengthening legal protections against genetic discrimination.

Li Du

Title: Professor
Speciality: Law and Clinical Medicine
Country: Macao
Establishment: University of Macau

Professor Li Du is an Associate Professor at the University of Macau, Faculty of Law. Professor Du graduated from Wuhan University, China with dual Bachelor Degrees in both law and clinic medicine in 2005, and received Doctoral Degree in law from the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta, Canada in 2014. His research interests have focused on legal, ethical, and social issues related to cutting-edge biotechnology, e.g., stem cell research and clinical application, genetic testing and gene patents, AI and biomedical research etc. Before he joined the University of Macau, he worked with Health Law Institute, University of Alberta as a Research Associate and Genome Alberta (GAB) as a GE³LS coordinator.

Charles Dupras

Dupras

Title: Assistant Professor
Speciality: Bioethics, Epigenetics and Public Policies
Country: Canada
Establishment: University of Montreal

Dr. Charles Dupras holds a bachelor's degree (BSc) in biochemistry and biotechnology from UQTR, a master's degree (MSc) in experimental health sciences from INRS, a propaedeutic degree in bioethics, and a doctorate (PhD) in bioethics from the University of Montreal. He completed postdoctoral fellowships in philosophy at the Centre for Research in Ethics and in law at the Centre for Genomics and Policy at McGill University. He then worked as a senior research ethics advisor at the Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research for federal research funding agencies (CIHR, SSHRC, NSERC).

Dr. Dupras has served as an ethicist on the scientific council of the Institut national d'excellence en santé et services sociaux (INESSS) and on the research ethics committees of Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). He currently sits on the advisory committees of the Canadian Journal of Bioethics and the International Observatory on Genetic Discrimination, and on the Bioethics Workgroup of the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC). He is an assistant professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (DMSP) and head of the bioethics programs at the University of Montreal School of Public Health (ESPUM). He is also affiliated as a researcher with the Centre for Public Health Research (CReSP) and as a co-researcher with the Centre for Research in Ethics (CRÉ).

His main research focus is on epistemological issues and the ethical, legal, and societal challenges associated with the development of complementary sciences to genetics and the transition to a “multi-omic” approach in research and health. He is generally interested in issues arising from genetic exceptionalism and the absence of laws, policies, or guidelines governing research and emerging technologies in epigenetics, microbiomics, and other sciences that can provide information about the biology, health, and lives of individuals or groups.

To date, his research has focused on several topics, such as the relationship between social and biological health inequalities, the identification of risks to privacy, the prevention of stigmatization and discriminatory practices based on biological variants or markers, the ethical and social acceptability of new reproductive technologies, direct-to-consumer testing, the use of artificial intelligence, and public health crisis management. He has employed a variety of methodological approaches, both conceptual and empirical. He has developed solid experience with Delphi studies, a mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) approach that allows experts and stakeholders to be consulted on specific issues.

Dr. Dupras is also interested in the epistemic status of bioethics as a field of study and practice. Over the next few years, he plans to further explore the impact of biases of all kinds that can affect scientific research, the application of technologies, and also reflection and discussions in bioethics. In the era of the “One Health” approach, he also hopes to promote dialogue and reflection at the intersection of bioethics and environmental ethics.

Sanruthai Jaruchavalit

Jaruchavalit

Title: LL.M.
Speciality: Comparative law, human rights, and the regulation of emerging technologies
Country: Thailand
Establishment: Faculty of Law, Thaksin University

I am a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Thaksin University, Thailand. I hold an LL.M. in Commercial Law from the University of Edinburgh and an LL.M. in Environmental Law (Merit) from the University of Dundee, United Kingdom, as well as a First-Class Honours Bachelor of Laws from Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand. My research interests focus on comparative law, human rights, and the regulation of emerging technologies, with particular attention to legal responses to genetic discrimination and the protection of individuals from misuse of genetic information in employment, insurance, healthcare, and research contexts.

I have experience supporting academic legal research through reviewing legislation, comparative materials, and scholarly literature, as well as assisting in drafting and proofreading research outputs. My current work engages with the development of legal safeguards addressing gaps in the regulation of genetic discrimination in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Through my participation in the Genetic Discrimination Observatory, I aim to contribute regional perspectives and support international collaboration on strengthening legal and policy frameworks to ensure fairness, equality, and ethical governance in the use of genetic information.

Taner Kuru

Kuru

Title: PhD Researcher
Speciality: Artificial Intelligence
Country: Netherlands
Establishment: Tilburg Institute for Law

Taner Kuru is a PhD researcher at Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT). While his general research interest focuses on ethical and legal implications arising from artificial intelligence-driven genetic research, he specifically focuses on regulating investigative genetic genealogy in this intersection.

Taner completed the Advanced LL.M. in Law and Digital Technologies program at Leiden University with cum laude distinction as an awardee of the Jean Monnet Scholarship in 2020. He then received the European Data Protection Law Review’s “Young Scholar Award” for his article titled “Genetic Data: The Achilles’ Heel of the GDPR?” based on his master’s thesis. He also worked as an intern at the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Institute (UNICRI) Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics during 2020.

He is also a certified lawyer at Ankara Bar Association and previously worked as an attorney-at-law in Turkey.

Maria Claudia Lattig

Lattig

Title: Professeur
Speciality: Genetics of Neuropsychiatric Diseases
Country: Colombia
Establishment: Universidad de Los Andes

Dr. Maria Claudia Lattig is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences of the Faculty of Sciences at the Universidad de Los Andes. Professor Lattig has a background in Microbiology and Genetics. She did her undergraduate studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. She completed a master's degree at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá and a Ph.D. in Genetics at George Washington University in a joint program with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States. Professor Lattig's research focuses on searching for pathogenic variants responsible for Mendelian diseases and neuropsychiatric diseases such as those related to autism spectrum disorders. Additionally, she is actively investigating genetic risk factors and pharmacogenomic variants that may be involved in response to medications associated with major depressive disorders. As a diagnostic laboratory founder and a researcher in human genetics in Colombia, she is concerned about the potential impact of misusing genetic information on health insurance and the workplace and the importance of creating regulations specifically on the topic in Colombia.

Audrey Lebret

Lebret

Title: Associate Professor
Speciality: Law
Country: Switzerland
Establishment: University of Lausanne

Audrey Lebret est professeure associée à l’Université de Lausanne, rattachée à la fois à la Faculté de droit, des sciences criminelles et d’administration publique (FDCA) et à la Faculté de biologie et de médecine (FBM) par l’intermédiaire de l’Institut des humanités en médecine (CHUV). Ses recherches portent sur le droit international, en particulier sur l’intersection entre les technologies biomédicales et les droits fondamentaux, abordant des thématiques telles que les biais algorithmiques dans l’intelligence artificielle médicale, la transplantation d’organes et les droits reproductifs. Elle est également affiliée au Centre for Advanced Studies in Biomedical Innovation Law (CEBIL) de l’Université de Copenhague.

Hongjie Man

Man

Title: PhD
Speciality: Law
Country: China
Establishment: East China University of Political Science and Law

Prof. Hongjie MAN, Ph D (Fudan), professor and the director of the Institute for Health Law and Policy Studies, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai, China. His major research fields include health law, civil law (esp. tort law, contract law and personality right), and human rights law. He is a member of the board of Governors of World Medical Law Association, member of board of China Human Rights Society and China Civil Law Society, and a standing member of board of China Health Law Society. He has published extensively in the above fields, with books, chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles in Chinese and English. His study and research experience overseas, such as in the University of Wisconsin, McGill University and Max-Planck Institute for International and Comparative Private Law , enhances his interests of comparative law study and international collaboration.

Laëtitia Michou

Michou

Title: Full Professor
Speciality: Genetics
Country: Canada
Establishment: Laval University

Dr. Michou completed her medical studies at l’Université d’Angers, her Rheumatology residency at l’Université Denis-Diderot-Paris VII and her PhD in Human Genetics at l’Université René-Descartes-Paris V (France). She had in parallel completed a two-year clinical fellowship in fragility bone diseases at the centre Viggo Petersen, Rheumatology Department, Lariboisière hospital, Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, France.

Dr. Michou is a clinical investigator at the Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec-Laval University, rheumatologist at the CHUL, and associate professor at Laval University’s School of Medicine, Quebec. Dr. Michou is the principal investigator of several academic research projects in the field of rheumatic diseases, mainly funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé, Canadian Institutes of Health research, the Arthritis Society, and the CHU de Québec Foundation. She supervises master and PhD students, as well as the clinical research projects of rheumatology and internal medicine residents.

She is the author or coauthor of 53 scientific refereed articles, over 100 oral or poster communications in scientific congresses, and approximately 30 articles of continuing medical education for rheumatologists or family doctors.

Dr. Michou’s research interests are human genetics of bone and joint diseases, particularly Paget’s disease of the bone, rare bone diseases, osteoporosis, Dupuytren’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. She is the manager of the Biobank and Bank of Data for the Study of Heritable Musculoskeletal Diseases and co-manager of the Biobank and Repository Data for Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases.

Yves Moreau

Moreau

Title: Professor
Speciality: Artificial Intelligence
Country: Belgium
Establishment: University of Leuven

Dr. Yves Moreau is a concerned scientist doing research at the interface between artificial intelligence and genetics. He is actively pushing back against the creeping development of mass surveillance technology, particularly the abusive deployment of forensic DNA databases. He is also engaged in reflecting on how technological advances are shaping our society and how to avoid that technology further exacerbates inequalities or leads us to an ecological collapse. Furthermore, he encourages scientists and engineers to participate more actively in the social debate, beyond their strict expertise but in a reasoned manner.

Kateryna Moskalenko

Moskalenko

Title: Associate Professor
Speciality: Civil Law
Country: Ukraine
Establishment: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Dr. Kateryna Moskalenko is a Ukrainian legal scholar specializing in reproductive and civil law. She holds a Ph.D. in Law and is an Associate Professor in the Civil Law Department at the Educational and Scientific Law Institute of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where she has worked for more than twelve years.

From 2022 to 2024, she was a visiting scholar at the University of Zurich within the University Priority Research Programme “Human Reproduction Reloaded,” conducting comparative research on reproductive law and strengthening international academic collaborations.

Dr. Moskalenko is a VUIAS Senior Fellow for the 2025/2026 academic year. Her project, Beyond Life: A Comparative Legal Analysis of the Regulation of Posthumous Reproduction in Ukraine and the European Union, examines the legal complexities surrounding posthumous human reproduction.

Alongside her academic work, she is a practicing attorney with extensive experience in family, civil, and reproductive law. She contributes to the Center of Family Law at the Higher School of Advocacy in Ukraine, delivering lectures and workshops on legal issues related to assisted reproduction.

Dr. Moskalenko is the author of numerous publications in Ukrainian and European legal journals and is an active participant in conferences and public discussions on reproductive law.

Kaori Muto

Muto

Title: Professor
Speciality: Sociology, Bioethics
Country: Japan
Establishment: University of Japan

Kaori Muto, Ph.D, is the professor of the Department of Public Policy, Human Genome Center, the Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo. She received B.A. in Human Sciences (1993), M.A. in Sociology (1995) from Keio University, and Ph.D. in International Community Health (2002) from The University of Tokyo. After working as a research fellow at the Department of Community Health, Brown University from 2000 to 2002, she served as lecturer at the Department of Health Sciences, Shinshu University from 2002 to 2007. She joined Human Genome Center as an associate professor in 2007 and became professor in 2013. She has been working in the field of biomedical ethics and medical sociology. Her research interests include ethical, legal and social implications and patient and public involvement/engagement. She serves on the ethics committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, chairs the coordinator development committee of the Japan Society of Human Genetics, and a board member of the Japan Association of Bioethics. She has also served as a member of the Expert Meeting for COVID-19 in the Government of Japan.

Akiko Nagai

Nagai

Title: Project Assistant Professor
Speciality: ELSI
Country: Japan
Establishment: University of Tokyo

Akiko Nagai is Project Assistant Professor at the Department of Public Policy, Human Genome Center, the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo, where she researches in ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) related genome research and genomic medicine. She studied public health and holds a Ph.D. in medical science from Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi. Her research interests include the ELSI surrounding genetic testing, biobanks, and data sharing.

Harisan Nasir

Nasir

Title: Bioethicist
Speciality: Health Ethics, Bioethics
Country: Singapore
Establishment: National University of Singapore

Harisan Nasir (MPP, Ph.D) works on examining the theory of "actuarial fairness" and its use as justification for risk-adjusted premium pricing in public and private insurance. He worked as a Bioethics Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (USA) from 2023-2025 and joined the Centre for Biomedical Ethics at the National University of Singapore in 2025. His interests are in bioethics, public health ethics and the normative aspects of health economics and policy. He is currently working on methods in measuring health inequalities and the normative implications of applying probabilistic knowledge to actuarial pricing in health insurance.

Joanne Ngeow

Ngeow

Title: Associate Professor
Speciality: Cancer Genetics
Country: Singapore
Establishment: National Cancer Centre Singapore & Nanyang Technological University Singapore

Dr Joanne Ngeow, BMedSci, MBBS, FRCP, MPH is Senior Consultant, Division of Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Centre Singapore and Associate Professor (Genomic Medicine) at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore. She heads the Cancer Genetics Service at the National Cancer Centre Singapore with an academic clinical interest in hereditary cancer syndromes and translational clinical cancer genetics. Dr Ngeow championed and established career tracks for genetic counsellors in Singapore and introduced genetic counsellor led clinics which is now the established standard of care for hereditary cancers in Singapore. She is passionate about education and patient advocacy and started support groups for Lynch syndrome, FAP, NF, HBOC and other genetic conditions with patient forums and meetings held annually.

Michael Pepper

Pepper

Title: Professor
Speciality: Bioethics
Country: South Africa
Establishment: University of Pretoria

Michael Pepper is Director of the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Director of the SAMRC Extramural Unit for Stem Cell Research and Therapy and a research professor in the Department of Immunology in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria. He is also professeur associé in the Department of Genetic Medicine and Development in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He obtained his MBChB in 1982 from the University of Cape Town, and moved to Geneva in 1986, where he obtained his PhD in 1990, MD in 1992 and Privat Docent in 1997. He returned to South Africa in July 2004.

Michael has worked extensively in the field of clinically-oriented (translational) molecular cell biology, and his interests include stem cells and the human genome as well as their ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI). He assists the National Department of Health with legislation concerning human tissues and in particular cell-based therapies, and is President and Chairman of the Board of the South African Tissue Bank Association. Michael is chairperson of a consensus study on the ELSI of human genome editing which is being conducted for the Academy of Science of South Africa.

Antonio Pinheiro

Pinheiro

Title: Research Assistant
Speciality: Bioethics, Medical AI
Country: Brazil

Antonio Pinheiro is an LL.M. (Thesis) candidate in Law with a concentration in Bioethics at McGill University. His research focuses on medical artificial intelligence, civil liability, and the governance of health and genomic data, with particular attention to risk, accountability, and patient protection. He serves as a Research Assistant at the Centre of Genomics and Policy, contributing to interdisciplinary projects on AI regulation, data governance, and responsible innovation in health.

Antonio holds a Bachelor of Laws from Brazil and is a member of the Brazilian Bar (OAB/SC). His work bridges comparative law, bioethics, and public policy, with a strong emphasis on equity and non-discrimination. He is actively involved in national and international research initiatives on AI, genomics, and health data governance.

Izen Ri

Title: Assistant Professor
Speciality: Sociology, Bioethics
Country: Japan
Establishment: University of Tokyo

Izen Ri (Ph.D.) is an assistant professor at the Department of Public Policy, Human Genome Center, the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo. She obtained her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Information Studies from the University of Tokyo in 2020. She was a research fellow, at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) in 2016-2019, and a Project Research Fellow at the Department of Public Policy in 2019-2020. Her background is in medical sociology and bioethics. Her main interests include patient and family communication surrounding various medicine and medical investigation. She has been involved in social science research about assisted reproductive technology, birth cohort studies, and hereditary disease (hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome: HBOC). Currently, she also engages in research activities on the impact on our society of advances in genome analysis, and ethical issues in research development of early disease prediction and preventive interventions, as well as efforts to reflect the perspectives of patients and the public.

Ayman Shabana

Shabana

Title: Associate Professor
Speciality: Islamic Legal History, Islamic Law, Bioethics
Country: Qatar
Establishment: Georgetown University

Ayman Shabana is Associate Professor of Theology and Chair of Culture and Politics at Georgetown University in Qatar.

Professor Shabana is the author of Custom in Islamic Law and Legal Theory (Springer, 2010) and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Religious Ethics, The Muslim World, Journal of Islamic Ethics, Sociology of Islam, Journal of Qur’anic Studies, HAWWA: Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World, Islamic Law and Society, and Religion Compass. He has also contributed articles and chapters to books, including to End-of-Life Care, Dying and Death in the Islamic Moral Tradition (2023), Islam and Biomedicine (2022), Routledge Handbook of Islamic Law (2019), and The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Law (2018).

Professor Shabana is the director of the Islamic Bioethics Project, which has been supported by three consecutive grants from the National Priorities Research Program at the Qatar National Research Fund. In 2012, he received the Research Excellence Award at the Qatar Annual Research Forum. He was also a visiting research fellow at the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School during the 2013-2014 academic year.

Professor Shabana received his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Kshitij Kumar Singh

Singh

Title: Associate professor
Speciality: Law
Country: India
Establishment: University of Delhi

Kshitij Kumar Singh is an Associate Professor at Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He is CeBIL Visiting Scholar (Spring, 2022) at the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Law. He earned his LL.M. and PhD degrees from Banaras Hindu University and received Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Asia-Pacific 2010. As a Visiting Researcher, he visited the Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario, Canada, in 2009 and 2010. His primary area of interest is biotechnology law, particularly ethical, legal and policy issues relating to biomedical technology (especially human genetics, genomics, precision medicine and antimicrobial resistance). He published extensively on patenting of agricultural biotechnology and biomedical technology in the light of open and collaborative approaches with esteemed publishers including Oxford, Edward Elgar, Cambridge, Elsevier and Springer Nature. He emphasizes a pragmatic approach to law that addresses the concerns of various stakeholders in the biotechnology domain through inclusion and participation. His current interest is “equity and diversity in science” (research pertaining to human genetics and genomics).

Jeanette Yuen

Yuen

Title: MGC
Speciality: Cancer Genetics
Country: Singapore
Establishment: National Cancer Centre Singapore

Jeanette is a Principal Genetic Counsellor at the National Cancer Centre Singapore, where she has been a core member of the Cancer Genetics Service since 2016. She leads complex case management and has helped pioneer Asia’s first GC-led cancer genetics service.
Her research focuses on the impact of genetic testing on patients, families, and society, with particular interest in insurance, regulatory safeguards, and genetic discrimination. She has led studies to understand the psychosocial and policy implications of genetic testing; her work has informed public education and service provision in Singapore and beyond.
She is also the chairperson of the Genetic Counsellor Society Singapore, where she is actively involved in training and mentoring genetic counselling students and junior colleagues, shaping the growth of the profession in Singapore.

Ma'n Zawati

Zawati

Title: Associate Professor
Speciality: Law
Country: Canada
Establishment: McGill University

Ma’n H. Zawati (LL.B., LL.M., Ph.D. (DCL)) is an Associate Professor at McGill University's Faculty of Medicine and the Executive Director of the Centre of Genomics and Policy in the Department of Human Genetics. He is also an Associate Member of McGill’s Biomedical Ethics Unit. His research concentrates on the legal, ethical and policy dimensions of health research and clinical care, with a special focus on biobanking, data sharing, professional liability, and the use of novel technologies (e.g. mhealth apps, WGS, WES) in both the clinical and research settings. Dr. Zawati is funded by Genome Canada, Genome Quebec and the Terry Fox Research Institute. His work is interdisciplinary, drawing together perspectives from law, ethics, bioinformatics, genomics, and policy. He’s also a frequent presenter on a variety of the most critical and topical issues in healthcare and the biosciences. He has appeared at 100+ international conferences, symposia, meetings, and has shared his expertise with universities, research ethics boards and law firms. Dr. Zawati has published 13 book chapters and 45+ peer reviewed articles in leading publications such as Nature Reviews Genetics, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the Journal of Law and the Biosciences, the Journal of Medical Genetics, and the McGill Journal of Law and Health. In 2015, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship (stay at Oxford University) and was named a Royal Society of Canada Delegate for the IAP Young Scientists of the Year international symposium. In 2014, the Young Bar Association of Montreal named him as one of its Lawyers of the Year.

Zier Zhou

Zhou

Title: Medical student
Speciality: Biochemistry
Country: Canada
Establishment: University of Ottawa Heart Institute

Zier is an MD student at Queen’s University. She completed her MSc thesis in biochemistry at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, where she discovered novel long non-coding RNAs regulating the Ripk1 gene, which is involved in inflammatory atherosclerosis. This research builds on what she learned from her undergraduate bioinformatics research at Queen's University, exploring microRNA dysregulation patterns in neuroendocrine cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Zier also has experience researching various questions in clinical cardiology, including how neglected tropical diseases affect the heart and how ECG patterns differ at high altitudes.

Besides her cardiovascular research, Zier is always excited to combine her interests in health with her interests in journalism and advocacy. Previously, she served on the editorial boards of the Queen's Journal and University of Ottawa Journal of Medicine. Currently, she is a social media editor for the Canadian Journal of Cardiology and an occasional contributor to Healthy Debate. Zier believes writing and journalism are important not only to communicate science but also advocate for health equity, all of which she plans to continue into her medical career. By contributing to knowledge translation and mobilization with the Women’s Heart Health Alliance, Zier hopes to address gender gaps in cardiovascular care and effectively improve patient outcomes.

GDO Team