Research interests
Coming from an academic background in business law and human rights, my main research interests lie in the intersection between human rights law and intellectual property, with a particular focus on the detrimental impacts of pharmaceutical patent rights on the realisation of the right to health. In this context, I am further interested in the impacts of technology and innovation on human life, well-being, and society more broadly.
In a world of constant technological advancements, I particularly seek to analyse how human rights can be effectively protected and how their realisation can be improved and adapted to new challenges. In this consideration a further of interest of mine lies in the field of AI ethics and data privacy.
Particular fields of Interest: IP law, pharmaceutical patentability, economic and social human rights, AI ethics, big data, and data privacy rights.
Current research
Postdoc in the PASSIM project
In PASSIM, my research focusses on the efficacy of the research incentives provided by patent rights. My postdoc project is divided into two sub-categories and research questions. The first question addresses the efficacy of patents for incentivising research into highly required innovations, such as new medicines, where the resulting products do not necessarily offer high profitability (e.g. orphan drugs or neglected diseases). The second focus area of my research project addresses leaks (data breaches) of scientific information and research data, and their impacts on the satisfaction of the novelty requirement for patenting innovations. This part of the analysis shall identify jeopardies to the patentability of new inventions that arise from the theft and unlawful disclosure of scientific information.
Past research
PhD Dissertation
My PhD research at Northumbria University Newcastle, titled The Patentability of Medical Products: Identifying Responsibilities of Pharmaceutical Corporations towards the Right to Health, analysed pharmaceutical patent rights and their detrimental impacts on the accessibility of medicines and the human right to health. A key theme of my thesis was the identification of responsibilities of private corporations towards the realisation of human rights.
A further connected research interest I developed throughout this research project lies in the subject of data privacy in the context of technological advancements.
