Audrey Van Scharen graduated with a Master in Political Sciences from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in 2008. While working at the Science Communication Department of the Research Department (RD) at VUB from 2010 to 2018, she obtained her Master in Laws. During her law studies, she had the opportunity to establish the Ethics in Research Department at VUB. She followed the growth and importance that Belgian, European, and international funding organizations and publishers placed on responsible research, including legal compliance, ethical principles, scientific integrity, and transparency.

While working at the Research Department of VUB, Audrey noticed that researchers had many questions regarding the use of data. This led her to obtain a Data Protection Officer (DPO) certificate. Awareness of privacy legislation in research was low at that time, but she observed the significant changes brought about by the GDPR since its creation in 2016. Given her experience in data protection, she initiated the GDPR implementation process at VUB. Currently, she is a DPO for the National Belgian Council of Doctors and the National Belgian Council of Pharmacists in Belgium, advising on the use of health data in both professional orders.

At the University Hospital Brussels, Audrey is the Manager in Ethics and Research. She assumed this role after several years as a member of the Medical Ethics Committee of UZ Brussels (2015 – present). Currently, she is the vice-president of the Medical Ethics Committee of the University Hospital/VUB and the vice-chair of the Health Ethics Committee of the University Hospital Brussels. She remains closely involved with the essential questions that researchers and healthcare professionals have regarding legal and ethical compliance in their professional activities. In recent years, she has observed new challenges in ethics and legal compliance in healthcare due to the rapid advancements in medical devices and data-driven solutions. She chairs the Medical Device Framework Board of the University Hospital, advising on the implementation of the Medical Device Regulation, the In-Vitro Diagnostics Regulation, and the AI Act.

As an affiliated Professor in the Faculty of Health and Pharmacy at VUB, Audrey teaches Bioethics, Ethics in Research, and Ethics in Health Management and Policy. She aims to impart the knowledge she gathers in daily practice to her students.

Drawing on her practical experience in ethics evaluations and the application of the CTR, GDPR, MDR, and IVDR, Audrey started a PhD on the topic: “The Sense and Nonsense of the Role Attributed to Medical Research Ethics Committees.” On one side, she will examine the focus of Belgian research ethics committees in the ethics review of innovative (bio)medical research. On the other side, she will propose best practices for the creation of ethics consultancy in healthcare at the University Hospital. She conducts her PhD research under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Pieter Cornu, Prof. Dr. Maarten Moens, and Prof. Dr. Michel Deneyer at the Faculty of Health of VUB.

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