Members

Professor Mateo Aboy (Director of Research)

Mateo is currently researching the status of information age inventions as patentable subject matter. A core component of this work is an in-depth quantitative analysis of trends in patent examination following key United States Supreme Court decisions affecting biomedical, biotech, computer and information process inventions, coupled with comparative study of European patent law.

Ms Nicola Anderson (Research Associate)

Nicola's current research projects centre on the use of machine learning in healthcare. The first project will address this from a product liability perspective, whereas the second will consider regulation more generally, focussing in particular, on how the law should seek to promote and balance conflicts between the goals of safety, efficacy, fairness and transparency. She is a qualified Solicitor, and up until December 2020, practiced in the field of medical negligence.

Ms Rebecca Brown (PhD Candidate)

Rebecca specialises in public law and international law. Her current research adopts a comparative lens to consider how domestic law and policy impact the development of international instruments governing disease management. She is also interested in global health governance more broadly, as well as the regulation of health issues within the administrative law system.

Professor David Erdos

David’s current research explores the nature of Data Protection especially as it intersects with the right to privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of information and freedom of research. His expertise covers issues such as the regulation of health data, "big data" applications in the health sector, e-health, and the use of personal data for medical research.

Dr Cristina Crespo (Research Scholar)

Cristina’s research interests include the patentability of information-age and biotech inventions, and specifically analysing the impact of recent US Supreme Court decisions affecting these inventions on patent prosecution strategy and innovation. Cristina’s research at the LML concerns the design and implementation of empirical legal studies involving biotech and gene-related patent protection as part of the research project Realising Genomic Medicine: Intellectual Property Issues.

Professor Stephen Gilmore

Stephen's research focus is family law.  With reference to medicine and the law, he has a particular interest in the law on assisted reproduction as it relates to legal parenthood, and in the law on children’s consent and refusal to consent to medical treatment in its relations to children’s autonomy and the concept of parental responsibility.  

Mr Matt Jordan (PhD Candidate)

Matt specialises in medical law and ethics and family law, with a particular focus on emerging assisted reproductive technologies and modern family formation. His PhD research uses the sociological concept of liminality to analyse the legal and regulatory architecture governing the human body throughout the life cycle.

Professor Kathleen Liddell (Director of LML)

Kathy specialises in medical law, emerging technologies and intellectual property. Her research focuses on a variety of issues such as patent protection in the field of pharmaceuticals and medical diagnostics, and the regulation of medical research and complex technologies such as genetic testing and stem cell products.

Dr Stevie Martin

Stevie is currently conducting an examination of the empirical validity of the justifications for the ongoing blanket ban on assisted dying in the United Kingdom and a consideration of whether or not the ban violates articles 2, 3 and/or 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Stevie has previously provided research and administrative assistance to the LML. 

Ms Georgia Michell (Projects Co-ordinator)

Georgia is a Projects Co-ordinator for LML. She provides administrative and research assistance to the centre. She has recently completed her LLM in International Law and Security and is interested in issues relating to international human rights law and international criminal law. 

Professor Okeoghene Odudu

Oke’s work in the field of medical law focuses on the relationship between the market and the NHS; for example ideas of “competitive neutrality” and the applicability of competition law to NHS service providers. 

Dr Stephanie Palmer

Stephanie specializes in human rights, public law, and issues of medical law at the beginning and end of life.  She is also interested in public health regulation, including the regulation of lifestyle risks, such as obesity-inducing foods, alcohol and plain packaging of tobacco products.

Ms Emma Scott

Emma specialises in family law with a particular interest in judicial decision-making and children’s rights. Her PhD research explores the concept of Gillick competence, with a particular focus on how Australian judges apply the Gillick test in cases of children seeking gender-affirming care.

Dr Jeffrey Skopek (Deputy Director of LML)

Jeff’s research interests centre on advances in the biosciences that destabilize categories and concepts that play a foundational role in our law and ethics. He is currently working on projects that explore challenges posed by developments in personalized medicine, biobanking, and big data.

Mr Marno Swart

Marno is a PhD candidate in the Centre and a Harding Distinguished Post Graduate Scholar researching pain and pain management from an ethico-legal perspective. He holds the degrees BA, LLB, LLM (Pret) and MA (King's) and has previously researched reproductive rights, for which he still holds a keen interest.

Isaac Weldon (Senior Research Associate)

Isaac’s research uses political and social science methods to reveal novel ideas, innovative strategies, and transformative approaches for addressing global and planetary health challenges. He leverages interdisciplinary perspectives to investigate topics spanning the politics of global health governance, evidence use, nutrition policy, tobacco control, emerging health threats such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), collective action, and Canadian foreign policy.

Mr Jake Widjaya (Projects Co-ordinator)

Jake Widjaya is a Research Projects Coordinator for the LML. He recently completed his LLM, and is interested in international human rights law, international arbitration, and the ethical issues surrounding new medical developments.

Dr Rumiana Yotova

Rumiana specialises in public international law and EU law, including international dispute settlement and investment law. She is particularly interested in the interaction of international law and other legal regimes such as EU law. In the field of medical law, Rumiana's interests include the extent of State powers to regulate for the protection of public health where this affects economic interests, for example in the case of plain tobacco packaging. She is also interested in the international regulation of the human genome and gene editing.