SciLifeLab Voices: Heidi Howard

This time in our SciLifeLab Voices series, we spoke with Heidi Howard, bioethicist and ELSI (Ethical, Legal and Social Issues) Lead at SciLifeLab and the Data-Driven Life Science (DDLS) program. After several years in “big tech” in London, Heidi has returned to Sweden with a mission to strengthen ethical reflection within data-driven research. In this conversation, Heidi shares insights on the evolving challenges of AI and life science, the importance of building true interdisciplinary expertise in ethics, and how thoughtful engagement can help ensure that scientific progress benefits all of society.

Hi Heidi! Congratulations on your new assignment as SciLifeLab’s expert on ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) in technology and data-driven life science. What does this role mean to you personally, and what do you hope to contribute during this period?

First, Thanks for inviting me to take part in SciLifeLab Voices! On both a personal and professional level, I am thrilled to be back in Sweden and to be able to join such a forward-thinking and forward-acting group of people at SciLifeLab and DDLS. While I really appreciate my experience in “big tech” in London, as a bioethicist, it feels great to get back to the public sector, and especially to an organisation that is focussed on supporting and producing scientific excellence for the benefit of all society.

During this 12-month assignment, I want to meaningfully engage with the SciLifeLab and DDLS community in order to raise awareness and understanding of the Ethical, Legal and Social Issues (ELSI) that are important to their work. Based on this, we can work together to prioritise the issues we want to address and then work towards finding the best solutions to manage them.

My first task in this assignment is to find out the views and experiences of stakeholders about the ethical, legal and social issues related to their work (and yes, if you are reading this, then you qualify as a stakeholder). I am trying to speak with as many stakeholders as possible and I know everyone is busy, so I also made this very short online survey for those who prefer to share their experiences and views in writing. Please don’t be shy. We really want to make this an inclusive and encompassing as possible.

For those interested, here is a very brief background on ELSI.

What do you see as the most pressing ethical or legal challenges facing data-driven life science right now?

While there are many issues I can mention here, including related to the responsible and lawful processing of data and the potential societal and research impact of some AI models, I think first and foremost we need to build up the capacity for ELSI scholars who can properly understand the technological aspects of DDLS and AI. This is needed so that we can have more meaningful and forward-thinking debates about DDLS, AI and the life-sciences.

During the last four years that I have been working in AI ethics, policy and safety, it seems like so many people without formal training, experience or understanding in the field of AI or Ethics are labelling themselves as “AI ethics experts” just because they are willing to discuss general topics around safety or societal impacts. Please don’t get me wrong here; it is important to have engagement from general publics about these issues, and everyone should be able to share their views, and yet, it is a completely different matter to be an expert and be able to offer governance options based on well-options and understanding of the science.

The ELSI perspective is often about asking the right questions, what are some of the key questions researchers should ask themselves when developing new technologies or handling large datasets?

That’s right, a big part of the ELSI approach is really about pausing to reflect and asking the right questions before moving forward. At the core, researchers should be thinking about how their work might affect society and the environment. Who will benefit from this technology, and who might be left behind or even harmed by it? What’s the overall balance between benefits and risks? These are foundational questions that can reveal so much about the broader impact of scientific innovation.

From there, we can start to go deeper. For example, how might this technology influence people’s fundamental rights, things like equality, freedom, privacy, or justice? Could it improve or undermine autonomy and fairness in society? When it comes to data, transparency becomes crucial: do we really understand how data is being accessed, processed, and shared?

And then there’s the question of public understanding. How does society perceive this technology? Have people actually had a chance to voice their opinions about it? What’s the general level of literacy when it comes to this type of research? These are all important dimensions that help ensure new technologies are developed responsibly and with the wider public in mind.

Finally, when you’re not reflecting on the big ethical questions of science, how do you like to unwind or find balance outside of work?

My family and I love to spend time in nature, hiking and swimming at the cottage when the weather permits and then skiing, skating, and sliding as much as we can in the winters. I am originally from the Eastern part of Canada (Québec), and apart from missing the usual suspects -like my family of origin, maple syrup products, and yes, poutine- I also miss the fully snowy and cold winters where you feel like a goddess for running 15 minutes in -20 degree temperatures on icy roads. I look forward to discovering the colder and snowier parts of Sweden in the years to come!