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 events

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

9 April 2026 – DIME closing conference: Disruption in healthcare and medical ethics: are we there yet?

When: 9: 00 to 16: 10 (in-person)

Where: Faculty library of Arts and Philosophy (Entrance via Rozier 44).

Abstract: The DIME project is inviting you to our closing symposium at Ghent University on the 9th of April. This in-person symposium has as its aim to bring together researchers addressing issues related to the objectives of DIME in bioethics, medical ethics, and the philosophy of technology. In addition to contributions from current DIME members, the discussion will be enriched by our two keynote speakers: Jeroen Hopster (Utrecht University) and Simona Tiribelli (University of Macerata). You can find the program here.

Registration

 

New publications:

Tom Goffin, Violette Vanscheeuwijck en Paulien Walraet: Onderzoeksrapport “De toepassing van de rechten van de patiënt op kwetsbare patiëntengroepen”

 

New Blogposts:

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Metamedica-members in the news

Tom Goffin

Heidi Mertes

Griet Verhenneman

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