Bernadette Richards

Bernadette Richards is an Associate Professor of Ethics and Professionalism at the University of Queensland Medical School. Her research examines ethical and legal dimensions of healthcare innovation, particularly focusing on regulatory frameworks for medical technologies, data governance, and clinical ethics.

Key research areas include:

• Regulatory frameworks for AI in healthcare
• Ethical governance of health data
• Legal aspects of medical innovation
• Regulation of medical device representatives
• End-of-life decision making

Her publications analyze regulatory challenges in adaptive AI systems, genomic data governance, and pandemic responses in healthcare. Recent work evaluates legal safeguards for predictive modeling in end-of-life care and examines barriers to health data sharing across Australian jurisdictions.

Dr. Richards serves on national committees including the NHMRC's Australian Health Ethics Committee and Embryo Research Licensing Committee. She has contributed to policy development for mitochondrial donation and voluntary assisted dying legislation in Australia.