HELT 2025 Calls for Panels

For this year’s edition of HELT, we offer the opportunity to external entities to organise a panel session or workshop as part of the event. As a maximum, the panel or workshop can take up to 90 minutes.

Below, you can find more information about the HELT 2025 theme, proposed topics, and submission guidelines for panel sessions.

HELT 2025 Theme

Following the success of HELT 2023 and HELT 2024, VUB’s Health & Ageing Law Lab (HALL) is delighted to announce that the HELT 2025 will take place in Brussels on April 24, 2025. This year’s theme is “One Health : Advancing Global Health through Law and Technology”. The symposium invites speakers and participants from a wide range of disciplines and professional backgrounds to share perspectives on the intersection of health, law and technology.

The "One Health" concept recognises the deep interconnection between human, animal, and environmental health. It promotes a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to addressing global health challenges, acknowledging the interdependencies between people, animals, and ecosystems. "One Health" fosters cooperation and facilitates fosters coorperation and facilitates cooperation among sectors like medicine, veterinary science, and environmental management. It also addresses broader issues like antimicrobial resistance and the impacts of environmental degradation on health. By recognizing these interdependencies, the "One Health" approach facilitates more effective and sustainable solutions for global health, ensuring that efforts in one area support health outcomes across all three domains.

A younger concept is also emerging on “Planetary health”, mainly focusing on the environment (climate change and human health) and social determinants of human health. The widespread proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), big data and related digital solutions across different sectors prompted the emergence of yet another concept, the “One Digital Health”.

This year’s edition of HELT 2025 will focus on key legal, ethical and technological issues associated with the "One Health" concept and their implications on global health. Specifically, a wide range of core subject areas will be explored, including:

• Regulating Zoonotic Disease Prevention and Control
• Data Privacy and Health Surveillance in a One-Health Approach
• Health(y) Technology, Innovation, and Intellectual Property
• Environmental Law, Climate Change, and Health
• "Digital Divide", Health Equality, and Right to Health

Potential Topics / Focal Points

The symposium will explore key legal, ethical and technological issues associated with the "One Health" concept and their implications on Global Health. The guidance below presents a non-exhaustive list of potential themes that potential collaborators may wish to focus on in terms of organising a panel or a workshop.

Legal Issues:

• What role will human and animal rights frameworks play in bringing about the "One Health" paradigm?
• How effective are national, international, and supra-national (including the EU) legal frameworks in addressing zoonotic cross-border infectious threats and non- communicable diseases? What are the existing barriers and potential solutions?
• How far are differences in European vs. US vs. Asian approaches to the matter obstacles in the development of global research designs and solutions?
• What challenges do states face in aligning with international agreements and other binding legal instruments, including the IHR?
• How should states, international, and supra-national organizations address issues linked to "One Health" (e.g. antimicrobial resistance) within their legal and regulatory frameworks?
• What role can the European Health Data Space (or other similar initiatives elsewhere) play in enabling cross-border collaboration for disease prevention and control?
• How are legal and ethical frameworks related to data protection, medical devices, AI, FemTech, DLTs, and PETs facilitating or impeding efforts to adopt a "One Health Approach"?

Socio-economic Issues:

• How can cultural, economic and behavioral insights inform more effective disease surveillance and prevention?
• What strategies can enhance public trust and compliance with EU-level disease prevention measures during future pandemics?
• How do disease outbreaks impact social cohesion, and what interventions can support resilience amongst populations in general and minorities?
• Does the existence of a ‘Digital Divide’ hinder the option of a successful "One Health" approach?

Technology:

• How can the European Health Data Space (or similar initiatives elsewhere) promote innovations by providing access to data, while ensuring compliance with data protection and privacy requirements, like the GDPR?
• What technological innovations hold the most potential for achieving "One Health" related goals?
• How can advancements in AI and big data analytics be applied to improve disease surveillance and control in a legally and ethically responsible manner?
• What are the latest developments in medical device technology that can aid in adopting a "One Health Approach"? Are these regulated in a manner that facilitates their development and adoption?
• How can intellectual property frameworks be adapted to balance innovation incentives with the need for equitable access to medical technologies?

Fundamental and Applied Medical Research:

• What are the latest innovations in scientific research contributing to the paradigm of "One Health"?
• How can scientific collaborations in the EU address "One Health" related issues (e.g. antimicrobial resistance or zoonotic disease transmission)?
• What role does the "One Health" concept have to play in preparation for a future pandemic?
• How can countries and international organizations enhance vaccine research, development, and distribution to prepare for future pandemics?
• Are approaches to scientific research in public health sufficiently interdisciplinary in nature to foster a "One Health Approach"?

Future-Oriented Challenges:

• How can States and International Organizations (including the EU) strengthen disease surveillance mechanisms to detect and respond to emerging health threats within their existing competencies?
• What role should the proposed EU Health Union (or similar initiatives elsewhere) play in improving coordination among member states during public health crises?
• How can States and International Organizations improve preparedness for future pandemics while ensuring public health policies remain adaptable and inclusive?
• Is the balance between EU and Member State competence inhibiting progress (or not)?
• Can inspiration in Europe be drawn from models adopted at the international level (e.g. WHO) or the national level elsewhere (e.g. India, China, the US)?

Climate Change and Health Impacts

• How do climate change and environmental degradation contribute to the spread of diseases, including zoonotic and vector-borne illnesses?
• What are the health disparities caused by climate change in low-income and vulnerable populations?
• How can predictive modelling and early warning systems be enhanced to anticipate and mitigate the health impacts of climate change, particularly in regions with limited resources?

Corporate Responsibility and Accountability:

• How can legal tools hold corporations accountable for activities causing environmental degradation and public health crises?
• What are the implications of emerging jurisprudence on corporate environmental responsibility for global health?
• How can the principles of corporate social responsibility be expanded to include more robust environmental and health impact assessments in corporate decision-making processes?

Submission guidelines

1. Panel Composition

• Panels must consist of one moderator and a maximum of four speakers (panellists).
• Efforts should be made for diversely composed, multi-disciplinary panels.
• Efforts should be made to ensure gender balance in panels.
• Panellists cannot double-up on roles (i.e., moderating and speaking).

2. Themes and Topics

Panels should cover at least one of the themes or topics specified in the Call for Panels.

3. Proposal Contents

Each proposal submission for a panel must include:

• Title of panel: A concise and informative title.
• Abstract: A brief overview of the panel’s objectives, relevance to the symposium’s main theme, and interdisciplinary approach (250 words max.).
• Panel organiser /co-organiser: Name, affiliation, and email address.
• Proposed panellists: Names and affiliations of moderator and speakers, if known at the time of submission.
• Key questions: Three bullet points highlighting the core issues and perspectives to be addressed. These should also demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of the panel and the links to the HELT 2025 theme.
• Session format:
  • Indicate whether the panel session follows a traditional format (e.g., panel discussion /presentations, followed by Q&A), or an alternative format.
  • Specify plans for Q&A or audience engagement. Panels should actively engage the audience, and innovative formats integrating real-time Q&A or interactive participation are encouraged.

4. Submission and Deadline

All proposals must be submitted via email to ashwinee.kumar@vub.be by 5 February 2025.

5. Participation Costs

• A fee of 2.500 € (incl. VAT) applies for organising a panel session in the dedicated panel room [The Balcony] with a maximum capacity of 60 participants. This fee includes conference entry for one moderator and up to four panellists. A reduced fee of 1.500 € (incl. VAT) applies for organising a workshop in the dedicated workshop room [The Pad] with a maximum capacity of 30 participants in workshop mode or 45 participants in theatre mode.
• Travel and accommodation costs are the responsibility of panel organisers and participants.

6. Review, Acceptance, and Confirmation

• All submitted panel proposals are reviewed by the HELT Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC).
• Panel organisers will be notified about any decision made by the SAC by 15 February 2025.
• Upon confirmation, panel organisers will be required to provide a full description of the panel (e.g., names of speakers, presentation titles, etc.) by 28 February 2025.