Sara Judite Mendes Roda

Sara Judite Mendes Roda is a researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), affiliated with the LSTS (Law, Science, Technology & Society) research group and the DPIA Lab. She also collaborates with the HALL research group on guest lectures. Her work focuses on data protection law, AI ethics, regulatory innovation, and robotic law. She is preparing a PhD on regulatory sandboxes and data protection under Prof. Paul De Hert's supervision, and participates in the EU-funded HR-Recycler project.

• Education:
• Lisbon University Law School (Public Law, 2001)
• DES in Public/Administrative Law from Université Libre de Bruxelles (2006)
• LLM in International & European Law from VUB/IES (2018)

Research interests include GDPR implementation, AI ethics frameworks, privacy-technology interfaces, and legal innovation methodologies. Notable projects involve impact assessments for human-robot collaboration in recycling industries and legal analysis of PNR data access mechanisms.

Received the Certificate for Outstanding Master Thesis (2018) and actively participates in policy discussions through CPDP conferences and roles like DPO for CPDP2020. Engaged in public outreach via media contributions on digital contact tracing and pandemic-related privacy issues.

Professional history includes legal practice in Lisbon, policy work at the Council of European Dentists, and DPO certification from the Belgian Data Protection Authority. Current roles include membership on the CPDP Programming Committee and advisory work for HR-Recycler's ethical frameworks.