Biomedical Data Sciences

We envision a world where every person receives the right care at the right time.

To make that possible, we work at the intersection of health data science, ethics, governance, and system innovation, because we believe that data saves lives — but only when people, processes, and technology work together.

Our research group develops trustworthy methods to handle and analyze complex, real-world health data, and we study what it takes to implement these innovations responsibly within healthcare systems.

We are affiliated to the Biomedical Research Institute (BIOMED), the Data Science Institute (DSI), and the University MS Center (UMSC) at Hasselt University.

What we do?

1. We tackle the technical challenges of real-world health data

We develop solutions for FAIR data, federated analytics, predictive modeling, and large-scale real-world evidence generation.

2. We address the sociotechnical barriers that hold innovation back

We study governance, ethics, legal frameworks, trust, and stakeholder alignment — the human and organizational elements needed to make data-driven healthcare work in practice.

3. We identify reusable patterns across multiple high-innovation use cases

By working across different health domains, we capture lessons learned, create reusable building blocks, and formulate use-case-agnostic recommendations and frameworks that combine the social and the technical.

4. We build and strengthen networks that drive systemic change

Through multi-stakeholder collaborations, national and international initiatives, and community-driven innovation, we connect people, ideas, and institutions to create impact that scales.

Our role at Hasselt University

The University of Hasselt aims to foresee high-quality education and believes that the therefore needed foundation is solid academic research, which is also an important link in the innovation chain.

Additionally, UHasselt aims to serve the community by being a civic university. As part of this civic university, we combine three interlinked missions:

• We investigate: conducting high-quality, interdisciplinary academic research.

• We educate: preparing students and young researchers to become future leaders in health data science and system transformation.

• We serve: contributing our expertise to society, healthcare partners, and policy efforts.
  

In our group, these missions are not separate — they reinforce each other.

Our research is civic, our collaborations are practice-driven, and our teaching is rooted in real challenges from the field.