Prof. Dr. Griet Verhenneman (Doctor of Law) is a legal expert in data protection, privacy, artificial intelligence and the law at Ghent University, a member of the Department of Criminology, Criminal Law, and Social Law, and more specifically, the Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy (IRCP).
Within the University of Ghent, Prof. Verhenneman is a member of the board of MetaMedica and i4S. MetaMedica facilitates interdisciplinary research and education in health law, health privacy law, and medical ethics, while i4S (Smart Solutions for Secure Societies) is a multidisciplinary economic valorization platform focused on crime, security, technology, digitization, and privacy. In her research, she focuses primarily on the legal and ethical challenges to the protection of different types of (sensitive) data. She teaches i.e. Artificial Intelligence, Law and Ethics, Data Protection Law and Information- and source criticism.
Additionally, Prof. Verhenneman continues to be involved in teaching, training, and policy-making in hospitals. She is actively involved in the Data Access Committee of Ghent University Hospital, contributing to discussions on the use of real-world data for healthcare, quality improvement, and scientific research, and she is Special Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, teaching data protection to medical specialists in training.
Since 2007, Prof. Verhenneman has built extensive expertise in data privacy and regulatory frameworks with over 17 years of experience as an (affiliated) legal researcher and/or lecturer at CiTiP, KU Leuven (2007-2024), over 5 years of experience as Data Protection Officer at the University Hospital Leuven (2018-2023) and 3 years of experience as external expert for the Belgian Data Protection Authority (2022-2025).
