The ANU Australian Studies Institute (AuSI) is delighted to welcome Dr Nora Ni Loideain from the University of London’s Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, as our next Visiting Fellow for the 2023-24 Visiting Fellowship Program.

Nora will use her Fellowship to research the regulation and mainstreaming of human rights in AI-based systems designed to interact with and monitor the health of vulnerable groups, particularly those with disabilities or mental health considerations. Her analysis will focus on current and emerging safeguards enacted to ensure that human diversity is considered in the design, deployment, and oversight of potential transformative healthcare tools which must protect and enable the privacy and data protection rights of their users.

Nora’s research will expand upon work with existing research collaborators from The Australian National University (ANU) who specialise in AI-based health care systems, data protection, and human rights law. During her Fellowship, Nora will have the opportunity to host an international and interdisciplinary academic workshop with experts from law, ethics, medicine, computing, and related disciplines across ANU.

Furthermore, the doctrinal and comparative analysis, reflections, and findings as a result of Nora’s Fellowship will form the basis of a monograph and a peer-review publication in a leading international law journal.

"I am honoured and delighted to be a Visiting Fellow at AuSI and ANU. My work will focus on the role of AI digital assistants in healthcare and the impacts of these systems on the privacy and data protection rights of affected users. This comparative research on relevant policy developments in the EU and Australia will build on previous work on this area with colleagues at ANU. I very much look forward to working with and learning from all experts and disciplines in this field at ANU."

- Dr Nora Ni Loideain, Visiting Fellow, ANU Australian Studies Institute

Dr Nora Ni Loideain is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Law and Director of the Information Law & Policy Centre at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London. Her research focuses on EU law, European human rights law, and technology regulation, particularly within the contexts of privacy and data protection. She has published on topics including AI Digital Assistants, health data, facial recognition, the Internet of Things, smart cities, and cross-border transfers. With her work being cited by leading institutions including the BBC, the United Nations, and the UK House of Lords.

Nora has recently been appointed to Editor-in-Chief of leading law journal International Data Privacy Law. She consults on the use of AI and emerging technologies for the Alan Turing Institute. In 2019, she was appointed to the UK Home Office Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group (BFEG). This group provides independent expert advice on the ethics and law underpinning biometrics and forensics policy development for public security and policing in the UK.

Previously, she has held lecturing positions at King’s College London and the University of Cambridge. Prior to her academic career, Nora was a Legal and Policy Officer for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions of Ireland and clerked for the Irish Supreme Court. Nora holds BA, LLB, LLM (Public Law) degrees from the National University of Ireland, Galway and a PhD in law from the University of Cambridge.