BIOPUNK BABIES & LILAC sunfish: law at the intersection of science, TECHNOLOGIES, & SOCIETY
London-Based academic (Associate Professor of Bio-Law), legal researcher & consultant. lawyer. writer & speaker. bioethicist. hedonic & Intersectional feminist.
Pin Lean Lau is a London-based legal academic (Associate Professor of Bio-Law), lawyer, writer & speaker, and bioethicist. Her work and research reflects the critical human values she holds close. Pin Lean believes that the law and respect for human rights fosters an interactive, relatable space for ideas to blossom with equanimity, and creates a deeper passion for activity and activism. Her signature research straddles the intersection of law, technologies (existing and emerging) and society. Pin Lean’s current work encompasses legal governance of technologies with a human rights & intersectional lens, specifically in artificial intelligence; reproductive & biomedical and health technologies; genome editing technologies; ectogenesis in extreme extraterrestrial environments; virtual worlds (Metaverse) & legal complexities of DeSoc & soulbound tokens; health & medicine in the Metaverse.
mission
Pin Lean’s research projects apply an intersectional and human rights lens. She believes this is essential for advancing social justice and promoting human well-being. By interrogating the complex and interconnected ways in which people experience discrimination and disadvantage, intersectional and human rights-based research can reveal the root causes of inequality and injustice, inform the development of more effective and inclusive policies and programs, and hold governments and other powerful actors accountable for their human rights obligations.
Writer & editor
Pin Lean has written extensively on topics straddling the fringes of laws, technologies and society. Much of her publications are in peer-reviewed, internationally renowned journals, or in books.She occasionally writes in The Conversation UK and other human rights blogs. She is currently working on several book projects relating to European Union Health Law and the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act. She has acted as Lead Guest Editor on several special issues in internationally-renowned journals on law and technologies and internet policies, and intersectionality analysis and feminist approaches. She is currently the Editor of an edited volume on artificial intelligence in multidisciplinary aspects.
SPEAKER
Pin Lean is a seasoned and engaging speaker. She believes that the power of speaking up is a gift, a responsibility, and a privilege. It is the power to use our voices to amplify the voices of the voiceless, to challenge injustice, and to create a more just and equitable world. Pin Lean has spoken, by invitation, at many national and international organisations, including on podcasts relating to technologies, and media interviews with news organisations in the UK, US, France, Germany, Brazil, Hungary, Malaysia, Japan, and India. Amongst her many speaking engagements, she counts her most impactful one as being her speech before the European Commission Health Policy Platform Stakeholders’ Meeting in Luxembourg; where she passionately called for general and specific measures for the responsible and equitable use of artificial intelligence in health and medicine, especially ensuring that they do not discriminate and exarcebate existing health inequalities of key population groups.
LEGAL & ETHICS CONSULTANCY
Pin Lean has consulted on a variety of projects and topics, from compliance & conformity with technology regulation, to mapping pathways of legal regulation in specific telecommunications regulatory environments in the APAC and European region. Her portfolio of private clients are just as diverse, ranging from small to medium home-grown businesses, to large multinational telecommunications, and civil society and non-profit organisations - but each treated with bespoke service and elegance. She has been invited as expert consultant and advisor for various governmental and non-governmental bodies. In her role as consultant, she has also participated as collaborator and co-investigator in several European projects with European CSOs and industry partners, in topics relating to regenerative medicine, digital twins in AI, tuberculosis, and rare and orphan diseases.