Dr. Michaela Theresia Mayrhofer
BBMRI-ERIC, Head of ELSI
Dr. Michaela Th. Mayrhofer is a social scientist by training and educated in Vienna, Louvain-la-Neuve, Essex and Paris. In 2010, she received her PhD from both the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and the University of Vienna. The thesis was shortlisted by the Austrian Society for Political Science for the ‘best thesis 2010’ young scientist award. Her academic career led her to the Centre de Recherche Médecine, Sciences, Santé et Société, the University of Vienna, the Institute of Technology and Society Studies at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt/Vienna/Graz, the Technical University of Vienna, the Fondation Brocher and the Medical University of Graz. She was involved in the coordination of the BBMRI Preparatory Phase (2008-2013) and is experienced in the management of national and international research projects. Recent research Fellowships comprise the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt and the University of Newcastle. She was member of the editorial staff of the Austrian Journal of Political Science (2013-2017). Since 2018, she has spearheaded the Code of Conduct for Health Research initiative, which aims at developing a code along article 40 of the EU GDPR, considering the specific features of processing personal data in health research. Since 2019, she is Head of ELSI Services & Research Department of BBMRI-ERIC. Her team is involved in 23 active projects, among them BigPicture, B1MG, Intervene, EOSC-Life or EUCanImage, thereof 9 Work Package leads. From February to August 2020, she took on the role as Interim Co-Director General of BBMRI-ERIC. She serves in several (S)EABs, most notably as chair of the Human Brain Project’s EAB. Trained in qualitative methodology and science and technology studies, her current research focus lies on the governance of the life sciences and the ethics of AI. Since 2023, she is Review Editor in the Editorial Board for ELSI in Science and Genetics for Frontiers in Genetics.
