News Archive
Professor Terry Attends Precision Medicine Initiative Summit
02/29/2016
Professor Nicolas Terry was an invited guest at the White House on February 25 as President Barack Obama celebrated the first anniversary of the Precision Medicine Initiative. The initiative is described by the administration as “an innovative approach that takes into account individual differences in people’s genes, environments, and lifestyles. It gives medical professionals the resources they need to target the specific treatments of the illnesses we encounter, further develops our scientific and medical research, and keeps our families healthier.”
The administration took the opportunity to announce 40 new private sector initiatives in addition to several federal government actions to accelerate the program.
The morning plenary program that Professor Terry attended featured presentations from leading cancer researchers, patients and patient advocates. He said that the highlight was a panel discussion in which President Obama participated. The panel touched on various parts of the initiative including data collection, privacy and security. Professor Terry said it was "extraordinary to see a busy political leader not only so engaged and informed about this highly technical issue but also interested enough in the opinions and experiences of others to just listen.”
After the plenary, Professor Terry participated in a closed-door session with a small group of other privacy and security experts, White House information technology leadership, and representatives from various government agencies.
"It was an extraordinary day” said Professor Terry.
“The IU McKinney School of Law’s Health Law program is one of the best in the nation, and I’m so proud that the executive director of our Hall Center for Law and Health, Professor Nicolas Terry, was invited to attend this summit,” said IU McKinney Dean Andrew R. Klein. “Professor Terry is recognized as one of the country’s leading academics in the field of health information technology law, and it’s a wonderful thing for our students to have someone with his expertise on the faculty.”
Professor Terry is the Hall Render Professor of Law and executive director of the Hall Center for Law and Health. He also is a member of the Health IT Consumer Workgroup. His research interests lie primarily at the intersection of medicine, law, and information technology. His recent scholarship has dealt with health privacy, social media and health, big data, and health care fragmentation. He started the podcast, “The Week in Health Law” with Professor Frank Pasquale of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. The podcast is available for download at iTunes, and PodBean, and can be listened to at Stitcher Radio. He is one of the permanent bloggers at HealthLawProf and at Harvard Law School’s Bill of Health. His recent publications are available on the Social Science Research Network, and he can be followed on Twitter @nicolasterry.
