Closing date: 18 September 2021

We are looking for an enthusiastic, dedicated and well-organized PhD researcher, who has preferably graduated in a research Master, specialized in health law or with comparable health law expertise and experience, is eager to contribute to a four year project on obtaining deeper understanding of the impact of AI-driven medical decision-making) on the physician’s professional autonomy. The ideal candidate has an understanding of the main technological developments in this field and a proven affinity with broader information law issues, and privacy and data protection in particular. The PhD will be part of a larger interdisciplinary team on AI in Health Decisionmaking at the University of Amsterdam.

What are you going to do

Within the framework of a University wide research programme on AI Health Decision-Making we are looking to understand – in the context of two AI use cases in the clinic – how AI decision-making impacts on medical decision-making, with a special focus on the legal-ethical concepts of professional autonomy in the context of the patient-physician relationship. The legal research aims to use a legal and qualitative case study analysis. Medical-professional and patient autonomy are together the ethical and legal basis for medical decision-making. Medical professional autonomy is based on the principle that doctors are responsible for a good standard of care, share responsibilities with other care providers and are accountable for their actions. Hence, the patient-medical professional relationship builds on protecting autonomy, as the key to their relationship of trust. In this regard the research will inform a legal analysis on the impacts of AI health decision-making on good care and liability for malpractice, (perceived) privacy and data protection and trust, from the perspective of the health professional. The results will provide insights for the future development of new AI models and their clinical implementation.

You execute your PhD research in close collaboration with the other project team members and supervisors, leading to completion and publication of a dissertation.

• If needed, you engage autonomously in the collection of empirical data (interviews, document analysis).
• Obtain approval from ethics review committees.
• Take the lead in authoring articles to be published in international peer-reviewed journals (in English).
• Present intermediate research results in internal discussions and potentially at workshops and conferences.
• Participate in and present findings at the RPA meetings.
• Contribute to the activities of the RPA, and engage in (interdisciplinary) collaborations with other members.
• Compile your thesis based on submitted articles or in a full monograph.

For further details and information on how to apply, visit https://www.uva.nl/shared-content/uva/en/vacancies/2021/07/21-629-phd-position-professional-responsibility-and-autonomy-in-artificial-intelligence-health-decision-making.html