Paul is active in pursuing a number of his research interests as a research professor at LSTS. This includes in areas such as data protection, privacy issues and problems related to stigmatization and discrimination. He is part of the Health and Aging Unit at LSTS where he co-ordinates research on such issues.  Paul has developed considerable experience in privacy and data protection issues in the area of health care delivery and scientific research. He has been successful in securing participation for LSTS and the VUB in a large number of research projects as an expert on legal and ethical issues related to privacy and data protection issues. Paul is also a member of the University's Ethics Board for Research in the Social Sciences.

Paul has also been active in research into issues associated with stigmatization and anti-discrimination approaches. He has been particularly active in developing a normative argument concerning the threats posed by stigmatizing expressions and language when used by the state. His PhD thesis was entitled “Stigmatizing State Expressions and the law”. He has published a monograph on these issues with Routledge in 2015.

Before joining the LSTS team Paul worked in the legal industry in the UK. He trained as a Barrister (Bar of England and Wales) and is a member of Greys Inn. He holds degrees in European and International Law (LLM, Institute of European Studies, Brussels), Law (MA, University Sheffield) and Biochemistry, (University of Sheffield).

Ashwinee is a full-time researcher at the HALL, and associated with the VUB-LSTS. He is preparing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Paul De Hert and Prof. Dr. Paul Quinn. His doctoral research focuses on the interplay between Blockchain and Interoperability of health data, from the data protection laws point of view, namely the GDPR, and the upcoming EHDS, Digital Governance Act, and Interoperable Europe Act. He has good experience in performing data protection, privacy, and ethical impact assessments of smart medical devices, smart wearables and textiles, UAVs, and chain-of-custody based on the Blockchain.

He has been associated with the 4 EU projects - ALADIN, ARC I, FASTER, and LOCARD. He is currently working on the EU projects INTREPID and ARC II. Ashwinee has produced a number of Deliverables/Reports from the projects. Besides this, he is a registered attorney in India and associated with the Delhi Bar Council.

Before joining the VUB, he completed a Master of Laws (LL.M) in European and Transnational Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law in 2018 from the University of Goettingen, Germany with “Sehr Gut”. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from the University of Delhi, India. He is also an electrical engineer with a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) from India. Apart from these full-time academic achievements, he has been awarded a postgraduate diploma in “European, International, and Comparative Law” jointly from the University of Lisbon and Indian Society of International Law. The Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies, New Delhi, conferred him its prestigious “Parliamentary Fellow” honor in 2016.

His research interests include data protection, regulatory technologies, Legal Informatics, Public International Law, and Legal History.