Heidi Beate Bentzen

Academic interests

• Biotechnology Law
• Privacy and Data Protection Law
• Health Law
• Bioethics
• Life Science
• Personalized Medicine / Precision Medicine
• Artificial Intelligence

Bentzen’s PhD project pertains to the legal regulation of personalized medicine in the EU/EEA. This includes the regulation of genetic testing, and the processing of human biological samples and DNA data, including reuse and data sharing both within and outside the EU/EEA.

Bentzen also researches reuse of health data through the Nordic, interdisciplinary, empirical project Governance of health data in cyberspace. 

Courses taught

• Data protection law at PhD level:
  • HES9365 Register-based epidemiology 
  • CCBIO906 Cancer Genomics 

Background

Bentzen holds an LLM/Master of Laws degree, and shares her time between The Centre for Medical Ethics at the Faculty of Medicine and The Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law at the Faculty of Law, both at The University of Oslo. She collaborates with The Norwegian Cancer Genomics Consortium. 

Bentzen is also an Academic Affiliate at HeLEX Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies at the University of Oxford.

She is a member of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy's Task Force on privacy and the protection of health data (MediTAS), and was part of drafting the global Recommendation on the protection and use of health-related data. 

Bentzen is a member of the Norwegian Directorate of Health's Bio Reference Group, which is an expert advisory board for the Norwegian authorities in biotechnology related matters.

She contributes to the drafting of a GDPR Code of Conduct for health research in the EU, an initiative spearheaded by the European biobank network BBMRI-ERIC. She is a Board Member of the Norwegian Association for Computers and Law, and Bioethics Advisor for the European Huntington's Disease Network. She is furthermore Bioethics Advisor for three Horizon 2020 financed research projects, and external Advisory Board Member for a fourth Horizon 2020 project. 

Bentzen co-chaired the law and ethics working group in the European network for researchers working on ELSI aspects of genomics, COST Action IS1303. She is a member of COST Action CA17130 on implementation of psychiatric genetic counseling, testing, and training in Europe.

Bentzen is an ad hoc reviewer for several international scientific journals. She reviews research proposals for the Dam Foundation and for EU's research and innovation program Horizon 2020.