Law and medicine in a joint effort for innovation – Frantzeska Papadopoulou talks about her mission at Karolinska University Hospital
Frantzeska Papadopoulou, professor of civil law with a focus on intellectual property law at Stockholm University, has been appointed affiliated professor at the Precision Medicine Center Karolinska. We asked her five rapid questions to find out more about her mission.
What does your role as affiliated professor at the Precision Medicine Center Karolinska entail?
– I can demonstrate to my colleagues at the Center that law is neither a problem nor an obstacle. I make an impact by showing how law can constitute a possibility on the way towards a goal! There is a reality out there which could profit from our knowledge and as researchers we have an obligation to give back to society. Our knowledge comes in handy!
– Being affiliated means that I can contribute with my expertise in the implementation process from the Karolinska Institute (KI) to the Karolinska University Hospital (KS). I learn a lot, I look at my own organization with different eyes, I find inspiration for new research projects and I open a door for other colleagues from the University to get in.
What role does collaboration between law, medicine and technology play in driving development forward?
– An extremely important role. Technological development makes a lot of things possible, but there are limits. There must be regulations to protect the patient, and we must consider them while maintaining a clear goal.
– It is becoming obvious that, in addition to good doctors, modern health care also needs problem solvers to deal with its challenges. This is where a lawyer has a very definite role to play. Modern health care builds increasingly on interdisciplinary work.
Which are the major legal challenges facing precision medicine today?
– It is a completely new innovation ecosystem which requires seamless collaboration between researchers, industry and healthcare. It creates new opportunities and new conditions. All actors are trying to position themselves in the new environment. It is interesting, but it can also pose certain challenges, says Frantzeska and goes on to explain:
– The researchers own the rights to their inventions/immaterial rights through the “professors’ privilege” (the intellectual property rights of academic staff), while other rules apply in healthcare. This is in itself a challenge, but a further complication lies in the fact the hospitals do not really identify themselves as innovation environments. Consequently, their follow-up regarding intellectual property rights is outdated. There are also quite a few doctors who do clinical work as well as research, and dual employments often cause problems concerning the ownerships of innovations.
How can legal input within precision medicine profit society economically?
– It is an entire field of research whose various parts are very difficult to price and evaluate. Some parts are much more expensive than traditional medicine, while some parts are much cheaper. If we talk about the value that lies in saving human lives, this makes a huge difference, and there is no doubt that this is the direction we must take. Economic effects are not only defined by how much things cost. What is the cost to society when somebody can no longer work and goes into early retirement at 30?
Definition of “affiliated professor”
Affiliation is not a form of employment but rather a collaborative partnership between a professor or researcher and a university or college. To be appointed as an affiliated professor, the individual must hold a professorship at another academic institution.
The aim of affiliation is to connect external experts, including professors and researchers, with a university or college, with the intention of expanding the network of both the institution and the affiliated individual. This is a mutually beneficial partnership designed to promote academic research and knowledge exchange with society at large.