Post-doctoral research in bioethics

A post-doctoral researcher will be hired on a bilateral Flanders(Belgium) - Canada project funded through the Research Foundation Flanders onthe ethical aspects related to the research use of crowdsourced medical datafor biomedical research. Smartphone applications for health are beingincreasingly used as a platform for collecting and sharing large volumes ofcrowdsourced personal health data for biomedical research and algorithmtraining. Consumer genetics products are similarly allowing individuals to havedirect access to their own genetic data and to share such data withresearchers. Using smartphone and genetic data in these ways presents numerousopportunities to expand biomedical knowledge, though it also raises certainrisks. Some of these include risks to personal privacy and risks associatedwith unclear ethical and legal obligations on the part of app developers andresearchers. In this project, we aim to mitigate these risks by determining howsmartphone applications and other mobile tools that collect health data work inpractice and by addressing legal, ethical, and regulatory uncertainty,comparing the situation as it exists in Canada and Belgium. We will use thisevidence to develop health policy guidelines that will enable smartphone datato be used safely, in a manner that protects users and the public. In doing so,we will assure that such data will contribute to improved health outcomes byexpanding biomedical knowledge and making health more effective and efficient.