Metamedica

The METAMEDICA platform is aimed at facilitating interdisciplinary academic research and integrated education in health law, health privacy law and medical ethics. METAMEDICA aims to support patients, clinicians, policy makers, legal scholars, ethicists, lawyers and other stakeholders confronted with  medical innovation and role changes in healthcare, with the proliferation of health related data and with new models to process and protect 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

20 June 2025 – Dare to think about health tech innovation 

Where: Event Center at the Belgian Pavilion, World Expo, Osaka 

When: 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Description: At Ghent University and Ghent University Hospital, we believe in responsible innovation. We not only connect engineers, AI experts and health care professionals to develop high–level health technology, we also stimulate research into the ethical, legal and social implications of these innovations. By uniting expertise in health law, medical ethics, psychology, communication sciences and many other disciplines, we ensure societal impacts are studied before, during and after the implementation of health technologies. This event will illustrate this cross-disciplinary approach by highlighting key aspects such as medical ethics and the impact of AI on healthcare roles and decision-making. 

Registration

 

18 September 2025 – The European Health Data Space – Challenges, difficulties and opportunities

Where: to be determined

When: 5 p.m. – 7.30 p.m.

Description: Since the approval of the European Health Data Space Regulation, experts have examined the challenges, difficulties, and opportunities it creates for the European Healthcare sector. Several of these experts will take the stand during this symposium.

Info & Registration will follow

 

New Blogposts:

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Metamedica-members in the news

Tom Goffin

Heidi Mertes

Griet Verhenneman

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