Welcome
Welcome to TECH MeD, a joint initiative between Texas Christian University and the University of Florida College of Medicine, funded by the National Science Foundation, in partnership with the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
Introduction
The digitization of medical records and the connectedness of medical devices poses challenges to the medical community for maintaining the privacy, health, and safety of the public. Cybersecurity threats to electronic medical records have long been known, and many in the healthcare industry have taken steps to protect against breaches that would threaten patient privacy.
Recently, however, cybersecurity researchers have turned their focus to network connected medical devices that play a direct role in patient care – from diagnosis to treatment. TECH MeD focuses specifically on life-sustaining medical devices, including pacemakers and insulin pumps. While these issues have, at times, garnered popular media attention, and even been the focus of an episode of SHOWTIME’s series Homeland, awareness of the security vulnerabilities with these devices has largely been limited to the computer science and cyber security professional communities. This initiative brings together professionals from law, medicine, and cybersecurity in an effort to bring awareness to the security challenges facing current and future medical and legal professionals.
TECH MeD is comprised of several core components. We hope to educate current and future medical and legal professionals, students in a variety of areas at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and the general public. On this website, you will find a repository of information, including recent news reports, academic articles, government reports, and video clips from our interviews with the experts who participated in this project.
Principal Investigators
Michael Bachmann, Ph.D. – is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Texas Christian University.
Adam B. Shniderman, Ph.D. – was an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Texas Christian University from 2014-2017.
Lauren B. Solberg, J.D. M.T.S. – is Director of the Program in Bioethics, Law and Medical Professionalism at the University of Florida College of Medicine.
The Experts
Scott Erven – is a Managing Director with PwC’s Healthcare Cybersecurity Advisory practice.
Julian Goldman, M.D. – is Medical Director of Biomedical Engineering for Partners HealthCare System, an anesthesiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Director of the Program on Medical Device Interoperability based at MGH, Partners, and CIMIT.
Jay Radcliffe – is a senior security consultant and researcher at Rapid7.
Andrew Woods, J.D. Ph.D.- is an assistant professor of law at the University of Kentucky College of Law.
Patricia Zettler, J.D. – is an associate professor of law at Georgia State University College of Law.