MetaMedica

The MetaMedica platform aims to facilitate interdisciplinary academic research and integrated education in health law, health privacy law, and medical ethics. MetaMedica supports scholars, patients, healthcare providers, legal professionals, ethicists, policymakers and other stakeholders in navigating healthcare innovation and evolution, driven by . , as well as the proliferation of health-related data and new models for processing and protecting these data.

Key scientific and digital developments lead to role-changes in healthcare, the proliferation of health-related data and new data protection and research data management frameworks. In view of these evolutions, the Metamedica Platform conducts and facilitates interdisciplinary academic research and provides integrated education in health privacy, health law and biomedical ethics relevant for patients, clinicians, policy makers, lawyers, ethicists, and other stakeholders. Particular topics of interest include predictive genetic research, precision medicine, trustworthy AI, big data, and electronic health records.

The three steering members represent three faculties at Ghent University. Tom Goffin, associate professor in Health Law, represents the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Griet Verhenneman, assistant professor in Health Privacy Law represents the Faculty of Law and Criminology and Heidi Mertes, associate professor in Medical Ethics represents the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy.

They were recently joined by several PhD students and a postdoctoral researcher. You can meet them here.

 

On February 6th 2020 the METAMEDICA platform was officially launched. You can find pictures of our opening symposium here.

 

Upcoming event

26 februari 2026 – Doctoraatsverdediging Paulien Walraet

Waar: Faculteit Recht en Criminologie, Facultaire raadzaal

Wanneer: 17u

Omschrijving: Wanneer een arts wordt geconfronteerd met een vermoeden of vaststelling van seksueel geweld bij een patiënt, moet hij zich een weg banen in een complex juridisch en deontologisch kader om aan deze patiënt gezondheidszorg te kunnen verschaffen. Doorheen de jaren werden tal van bronnen met een verschillende hiërarchische waarde afzonderlijk van elkaar ontwikkeld, die elk direct dan wel indirect een invloed hebben op hoe een arts moet omgaan met seksuele geweldsincidenten.
In deze scriptie wordt gezocht naar een manier waarop het huidig geldend juridisch en deontologisch kader dat de arts moet respecteren ten aanzien van een slachtoffer van seksueel geweld kan worden teruggebracht tot enkele basiscriteria, op grond van dewelke de arts op een pragmatische manier kan omgaan met seksueel geweld, doch tevens juridisch en deontologisch correct kan handelen

Meer informatie en registratie

 

31 March 2026 – PhD Defence Brandon Ferlito

When: 15: 00 to 17: 00 (online or in-person)

Where: Lokaal 0.8, Campus Boekentoren (Entrance via Sint-Hubertusstraat 8).

Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly shapes healthcare practice, influencing clinical decision-making, access to care and the organisation of health systems. These developments complicate how responsibility is understood, particularly when harms arise through distributed socio-technical processes rather than individual fault. This dissertation examines how responsibility operates in AI-driven healthcare. It argues that individualistic and attribution focused conceptualisations of responsibility fail to capture how AI-related harms are produced through institutional structures, data practices, design choices, and regulatory conditions. Across different healthcare contexts, responsibility is shaped by actors’ power, positions, and involvement within these systems.  Against this background, the dissertation develops a plural conceptualisation of responsibility in AI-driven healthcare, in which responsibilities are structural, differentiated, collective, forward-looking, epistemic, and relational. They extend beyond attribution after harm toward practices of prevention, responsiveness, and justice across the AI lifecycle. The dissertation concludes that responsibilities in AI-driven healthcare are redistributed across socio-technical systems. Ethical analysis and governance must therefore attend to how responsibilities are structured and enacted in practice, rather than focusing solely on individual accountability.

More information & registration

 

New Blogposts:

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Metamedica-members in the news

Tom Goffin

Heidi Mertes

Griet Verhenneman

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