Speakers

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and Healthcare Innovation Program Office (HIPO) is hosting its monthly colloquium series and invites everyone to participate in the March session. 

Bio: 

Sara Gerke is an Associate Professor of Law and Richard W. & Marie L. Corman Scholar at the College of Law, as well as an Associate Professor at the European Union Center, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her current research focuses on the ethical and legal challenges of artificial intelligence and big data for health care and health law in the United States and Europe.

Professor Gerke has led several research projects, such as those funded by the NIH and the European Union (Horizon Europe). She has over 80 publications in health law and bioethics, especially AI and digital health. Her work has appeared in leading law, medical, scientific, and bioethics journals, including The George Washington Law Review, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Science, Nature Medicine, BMJ, The American Journal of Bioethics, and the Hastings Center Report. Her work has been covered in media venues such as The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Times, Forbes, Scientific American, Bloomberg Law, CBC, USA Today, and others.

Before joining Illinois, she was an Assistant Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law. Previously, she served as a Research Fellow in Medicine, Artificial Intelligence, and Law at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. Before that, she was the General Manager of the Institute for German, European and International Medical Law, Public Health Law and Bioethics of the Universities of Heidelberg and Mannheim.

Title: AI in Healthcare: Integrating Regulatory, Liability, and Privacy Considerations by Design

Abstract:

This presentation discusses how legal considerations concerning artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare can be integrated into system design from the outset, rather than addressed retrospectively through compliance efforts or litigation. Focusing on U.S. law, it explores three interrelated domains, namely regulation, liability, and data privacy, and the ways in which each shapes the development, deployment, and post-market use of AI-based health technologies. The discussion situates AI within existing legal frameworks, including medical device regulation, general tort and privacy laws, while pointing out areas in which established doctrines have difficulty accommodating new technologies. Throughout, this presentation argues for a “by design” approach that embeds legal foresight into technical architecture and organizational decision-making, while recognizing that many legal standards remain uncertain and are context-dependent.