David Townend, LL.B., M.Phil. (Sheffield), is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law, Sub-Dean for Postgraduate Studies in the Faculty of Law, and a Deputy Director of the Sheffield Institute of Biotechnological Law and Ethics (SIBLE) in the University of Sheffield. He has research interests in data protection and in property rights, and in particular in relation to data protection, privacy, medical research, genetic information, and biobanking, and the basis of those rights. This work has been in part undertaken through grants from FP5 (“PRIVIREAL” project) and FP6 (“PRIVILEGED” project) of the EC, and from the UK Office of the Information Commissioner. He is also studies property theory, and in particular the development of intellectual property rights in relation to new technologies. He is interested in the relationship between property rights and human rights.

Particularly relevant to today’s proceedings, Townend is involved with modules in the University of Sheffield on Ethics and Law for researchers in both the social science Faculty and the biomedical science department. He is also the University of Sheffield’s representative in the BioTEthed project.