Who Owns the Data in a Medical Information Commons?

Amy L McGuire1, Jessica Roberts1, Sean Aas1

  • 1Amy L. McGuire, J.D., Ph.D., is the Leon Jaworski Professor of Biomedical Ethics and Director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. McGuire serves on the program committee for the Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics and is immediate past president of the Association of Bioethics Program Directors. She received a B.A. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from the University of Houston, and a Ph.D. from the Institute for Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Jessica L. Roberts, J.D., is the Alumnae College Professor in Law at the University of Houston Law Center and a past recipient of a Greenwall Faculty Scholar grant. She earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from Yale Law School. Sean Aas, Ph.D., M.A., is a Senior Research Scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Georgetown. He is also, presently, a Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholar. He earned a B.A. and B.S. in Philosophy and Mathematics at The Evergreen State College, a M.A. in Philosophy from Georgia State University, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Brown University. Barbara J. Evans, MS, Ph.D., J.D., LL.M., is the Mary Ann and Lawrence E. Faust Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Biotechnology & Law at the University of Houston Law Center and holds a joint appointment as Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UH Cullen College of Engineering. She holds a B.S.E.E. from the University of Texas at Austin, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and an LL.M. in Health Law from University of Houston.

Summary

This study examines data ownership and stakeholder rights within medical information commons (MICs). It proposes a new governance framework balancing legal, ethical, and practical considerations for equitable data sharing.

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