ETHICAL, SOCIAL AND LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS OF BIOMEDICAL BIG DATA (BBD) HANDLING:

‘Big Data Divide’ and governance of BBD Platforms

15 - 20 December 2024
hosted by the Eurolife DATAETHICS Network in Obergurgl & Innsbruck, Austria

The call for applications is now CLOSED

We are pleased to announce the upcoming Winter School organized by the Eurolife network. This intensive program will focus on the critical theme: “Big Data Divide and Governance of BBD Platforms.”
Target Audience: Students from Eurolife institutions, including advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and early-stage researchers in life sciences.

THEME SUMMARY

Biomedical Big Data is revolutionizing healthcare and research, offering unprecedented opportunities for innovation. However, it also raises significant ethical, social, and legal challenges that must be addressed to ensure responsible and equitable use. This Winter School will explore these issues in depth, with a particular focus on the concept of the “Big Data Divide” and the governance mechanisms required to manage BBD platforms effectively.

Key Topics

• Ethical Considerations: Understanding the moral implications of BBD use, including privacy concerns, consent, and data ownership.
• Social Impacts: Exploring how BBD can widen or bridge gaps in healthcare access and research opportunities.
• Legal Frameworks: Examining current laws and regulations governing BBD, with a focus on international standards and the challenges of cross-border data sharing.
• Big Data Divide: Addressing the disparities in data access and use between different regions, institutions, and communities.
• Governance of BBD Platforms: Discussing best practices for the management and oversight of BBD platforms to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability.

WHY THE DATAETHICS WINTER SCHOOL

This 5-day course, which includes the participation in an intenational DATAETHICS conference, offers a unique opportunity to interact during lectures from leading and established cross-disciplinary experts in data curation and privacy, data use, ethics, biomedicine, and related fields. Through a matrix of lectures, interactive sessions with experts and the public, and small group assignments, we create a flexible environment allowing for students to acquire new knowledge in th framework of a problem-based learning. This approach furthers the ability of students to apply newly-gained knowledge in true-to-life scenarios. The course also offers ample opportunities for networking with peers and thematic experts from different leading European medical institutions, as well as external speakers.

The Winter School will provide a platform to deepen your understanding of the ethical, social, and legal dimensions of BBD, preparing you for future roles in academia, industry, or policy-making.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Through your participation in the course, you will yourself with the value chain of ethical, social and legal considerations in the field of Data Sharing and the Biomedical/Health domain. Through the group exercises based on a real-life case study, you will gain the basis to analyse, categorise and address key ethical considerations of data sharing and usage in the Life Sciences & Health domain. Through the opportunity to debate on a true-to-life ethical problem, you will develop understanding on how to assess the use of Biomedical Big Data in the context of the ethical implications that inevitably follow it, and how to leverage ethical consideration in decision making. Participation in this course will foster your transversal skills and equip you with cutting edge knowledge on big data relevant to your study, research or internships.

OUR SPEAKERS

The expertise of the speakers covers a broad spectrum of research and application interests from bioethics, health policy and social studies of medicine, analysis of large heterogeneous high-throughput data-sets and usage related to digital divide for biomedicine.

The course features lectures from prominent international speakers:

• Prof Ciara Staunton (Eurac Research)
• Dr. Elisa Houwink (Mayo Clinic)
• Prof P.J. Wall (Trinity College Dublin)
• Dr André Krom (Leiden University Medical Center)
• Prof Deborah Mascalzoni (Uppsala University & WHO advisor)
• Prof. Orsolya Marta Peter (Semmelweis University)
• Prof. Petia Radeva (University of Barcelona)
• Dr. Georgios Exarchakis (University of Bath)
• Prof. Yann Herault (University of Strasbourg)
• Prof. Francis Megerlin (University of Strasbourg)

AWARD

Students participating in the DATAETHICS Winter School will be awarded a certificate of participation. Furthermore, students will receive the DATAETHICS Open Badge for recognition of their qualifications.This innovative certification method – the DATAETHICS Open Badge –allow the participants to digitally showcase the skills and competences they gained during the Winter School.

PARTICIPANTS PROFILE

The course welcomes BSc, MSc and PhD students from the fields of medicine, biomedicine and life sciences from the 9 DATAETHICS Partner Universities. Proficiency in written and spoken English is required.

To ensure active participation and exchange with teaching staff and fellow participants, as well as transnational character of the course, a maximum of 27 participants will be admitted to this course, with balanced representations of participants per DATAETHICS partner institutions. In addition, in case of equal quality of applications, students with disabilities will be given priority in the selection process.

The Eurolife DATAETHICS Winter School grant will cover the participants’ joining fee and accommodation (HB) costs, as well as transport from Obergurgl to Innsbruck for the conference on 19.12.2024.

APPLICATION

Deadline now extended: To apply, please submit your application by 17:00 CEST 11 October 2024.

Applications should include the completed application form, a CV, and a motivation letter (200-300 words explaining the predicted impact of the participation on the Candidate’s academic/research career).

For more information, including the detailed program and speakers, please visit HERE

Join us for this unique opportunity to explore the cutting-edge issues at the intersection of ethics, law, and technology in the realm of Biomedical Big Data!