Ian Stedman
School of Public Policy and Administration
Associate Professor
Osgoode Hall Law School, Graduate appointment
Office: McLaughlin College
Email: istedman@yorku.ca
Primary website: Personal webpage
Secondary website: What motivates my work
Ian Stedman is an Associate Professor, Canadian Public Law and Governance in the School of Public Policy and Administration. He is cross-appointed to the graduate programs at Osgoode Hall Law School, Science and Technology Studies and in Socio-Legal Studies. Professor Stedman serves on the Executive of both the Centre for AI & Society and Connected Minds (CFREF) at York University.
After being called to the bar of Ontario in 2009, Professor Stedman practiced law in the private sector before moving to the public sector where he advised public officials about their ethical and legal obligations. His expertise in public sector governance, particularly in relation to ethics and accountability, accordingly, underscores much of his academic work.
Being a person who lives with a rare genetic disease, Professor Stedman also advocates for the rare disease community and has a research program that focuses on the technologies and policies driving greater personalization in healthcare. He currently sits as Chair of the CIHR Institute of Genetics' Institute Advisory Board and Chair of the Canadian Autoinflammatory Network / Réseau Auto-inflammatoire Canadien . Before joining the School of Public Policy and Administration, Professor Stedman held the inaugural research fellowship in Artificial Intelligence Law & Ethics at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children’s Centre for Computational Medicine and a post-doctoral fellowship researching the Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare at Dr. Rebecca Pillai Riddell’s Opportunities to Understand Childhood Hurt (OUCH) Lab, at York University.
Professor Stedman serves as a legal member on two Research Ethics Board panels at SickKids (including the first-of-its-kind panel dedicated exclusively to data science) and was a member of York University’s A.I. and Society Task Force. His work in the area of law and technology earned him the IP Osgoode David Vaver Medal for Excellence in IP Law in 2020.
Degrees
Honours B.A. (Philosophy), University of Western OntarioM.A. (Philosophy), York University
LL.B., University of Alberta
LL.M., University of Toronto
Ph.D. (Law), Osgoode Hall Law School
Professional Leadership
2023-present: Lead of Knowledge Mobilization Committee, Connected Minds (CFREF at YorkU)
2022-present: Chair of Public Relations Committee for The Centre for AI & Society (YorkU).
2021-present: Member of Health Nexus' Data Governance Committee, Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine at University of Toronto.
2024-present: Chair of CIHR Institute of Genetics' Advisory Board.
Community Contributions
2023-present: Steering Committee Member, Canadian Rare Disease Network
2022-present: Board Chair, Canadian Autoinflammatory Network
2016-present: Research Ethics Board, Hospital For Sick Children (SickKids), Legal Member.
Research Interests
- David Vaver Medal for Excellence in IP Law - 2020
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship - 2017-18
- Harley D. Hallett Graduate Scholarship - 2015-16
- Hon. William Z. Estey Teaching Fellowship - 2015-16
- Robert Law Fellowship in Legal Ethics - 2014-15
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
Despite Canada’s research capacity and many established genomics laboratories, there is no national database or strategy for how to capture, store, and access Canadian genomic data in an equitable, secure, and sustainable manner.
Building on investments from the Government of Canada’s National Strategy for Drugs for Rare Diseases, the Pan-Canadian Human Genome Library, led by Dr. Guillame Bourque, Director of Bioinformatics at the McGill Genome Centre, will provide researchers and health care professionals with a centralized database that reflects the rich diversity of people living in Canada. A core principle of the Genome Library is Indigenous control over genomic datasets of Indigenous Peoples to ensure autonomy and respectful use of Indigenous health data. With this investment in the Genome Library, Canada remains a leader in genomic research that is diverse and equitable and ready to be used by health care professionals.
Description:Government of Canada press release
Start Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2023
End Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2028
Funders:
CIHR Institute of Genetics
-
Summary:
A large amount of digital information is now documented during regular clinical care. This information, or data, could be used to better understand what makes people sick and how to make them better. The data could also be used to create artificial intelligence algorithms which help care providers during their work. When the data pertains to children, we do not know the circumstances under which it is acceptable to use it for research. Our project will figure out the context under which research using this data is acceptable to the public, and how people's opinions vary according to their identity. We believe there are many circumstances in which everybody is supportive of research using this data, but it can be hard as the data were not collected for research. To fix this, we will build a special data format with software that makes it easier to use the data for research. We will build an actual dataset from patients at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) to test out our new data format and show that it works well. Finally, we will work with the groups which oversee ethical research at SickKids to create a new process for using our dataset in research. We hope our process makes it safer for already collected data to be used in improving the care of future patients.
Description:The project's principal investigator is Alistair Johnson, and the other co-investigators are Dr. Mjaye Mazwi and Dr. Melissa McCradden. More information and the project funding decision can be found here.
Start Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2021
End Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2025
Funders:
CIHR
Ian Stedman is an Associate Professor, Canadian Public Law and Governance in the School of Public Policy and Administration. He is cross-appointed to the graduate programs at Osgoode Hall Law School, Science and Technology Studies and in Socio-Legal Studies. Professor Stedman serves on the Executive of both the Centre for AI & Society and Connected Minds (CFREF) at York University.
After being called to the bar of Ontario in 2009, Professor Stedman practiced law in the private sector before moving to the public sector where he advised public officials about their ethical and legal obligations. His expertise in public sector governance, particularly in relation to ethics and accountability, accordingly, underscores much of his academic work.
Being a person who lives with a rare genetic disease, Professor Stedman also advocates for the rare disease community and has a research program that focuses on the technologies and policies driving greater personalization in healthcare. He currently sits as Chair of the CIHR Institute of Genetics' Institute Advisory Board and Chair of the Canadian Autoinflammatory Network / Réseau Auto-inflammatoire Canadien . Before joining the School of Public Policy and Administration, Professor Stedman held the inaugural research fellowship in Artificial Intelligence Law & Ethics at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children’s Centre for Computational Medicine and a post-doctoral fellowship researching the Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare at Dr. Rebecca Pillai Riddell’s Opportunities to Understand Childhood Hurt (OUCH) Lab, at York University.
Professor Stedman serves as a legal member on two Research Ethics Board panels at SickKids (including the first-of-its-kind panel dedicated exclusively to data science) and was a member of York University’s A.I. and Society Task Force. His work in the area of law and technology earned him the IP Osgoode David Vaver Medal for Excellence in IP Law in 2020.
Degrees
Honours B.A. (Philosophy), University of Western OntarioM.A. (Philosophy), York University
LL.B., University of Alberta
LL.M., University of Toronto
Ph.D. (Law), Osgoode Hall Law School
Professional Leadership
2023-present: Lead of Knowledge Mobilization Committee, Connected Minds (CFREF at YorkU)
2022-present: Chair of Public Relations Committee for The Centre for AI & Society (YorkU).
2021-present: Member of Health Nexus' Data Governance Committee, Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine at University of Toronto.
2024-present: Chair of CIHR Institute of Genetics' Advisory Board.
Community Contributions
2023-present: Steering Committee Member, Canadian Rare Disease Network
2022-present: Board Chair, Canadian Autoinflammatory Network
2016-present: Research Ethics Board, Hospital For Sick Children (SickKids), Legal Member.
Research Interests
Awards
- David Vaver Medal for Excellence in IP Law - 2020
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship - 2017-18
- Harley D. Hallett Graduate Scholarship - 2015-16
- Hon. William Z. Estey Teaching Fellowship - 2015-16
- Robert Law Fellowship in Legal Ethics - 2014-15
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
Despite Canada’s research capacity and many established genomics laboratories, there is no national database or strategy for how to capture, store, and access Canadian genomic data in an equitable, secure, and sustainable manner.
Building on investments from the Government of Canada’s National Strategy for Drugs for Rare Diseases, the Pan-Canadian Human Genome Library, led by Dr. Guillame Bourque, Director of Bioinformatics at the McGill Genome Centre, will provide researchers and health care professionals with a centralized database that reflects the rich diversity of people living in Canada. A core principle of the Genome Library is Indigenous control over genomic datasets of Indigenous Peoples to ensure autonomy and respectful use of Indigenous health data. With this investment in the Genome Library, Canada remains a leader in genomic research that is diverse and equitable and ready to be used by health care professionals.
Description:Government of Canada press release
Project Type: FundedRole: Lead, Patient Partnership Team & Member of PCHGL Executive Committee
Start Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2023
End Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2028
Funders:
CIHR Institute of Genetics
-
Summary:
A large amount of digital information is now documented during regular clinical care. This information, or data, could be used to better understand what makes people sick and how to make them better. The data could also be used to create artificial intelligence algorithms which help care providers during their work. When the data pertains to children, we do not know the circumstances under which it is acceptable to use it for research. Our project will figure out the context under which research using this data is acceptable to the public, and how people's opinions vary according to their identity. We believe there are many circumstances in which everybody is supportive of research using this data, but it can be hard as the data were not collected for research. To fix this, we will build a special data format with software that makes it easier to use the data for research. We will build an actual dataset from patients at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) to test out our new data format and show that it works well. Finally, we will work with the groups which oversee ethical research at SickKids to create a new process for using our dataset in research. We hope our process makes it safer for already collected data to be used in improving the care of future patients.
Description:The project's principal investigator is Alistair Johnson, and the other co-investigators are Dr. Mjaye Mazwi and Dr. Melissa McCradden. More information and the project funding decision can be found here.
Project Type: FundedRole: Co-Investigator
Start Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2021
End Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2025
Funders:
CIHR
