Designation: Fellow 2023/2025

David Thaw

David Thaw is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh and holds appointments in the School of Law and the School of Computing and Information. He is also an Affiliated Fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.

David is an internationally-recognized expert in law and technology. His research and scholarship span several areas of law, policy, and computing and information sciences. His central focus is on cybersecurity and related issues, particularly in the contexts of private-sector compliance and regulation, civilian criminal law, and cyberwarfare. David’s research and professional work also span issues of information privacy, blockchain and related distributed verification technologies, and the intersection of security and artificial intelligence.

His legal scholarship has appeared in venues including the Washington Law Review, Arizona Law Review, Connecticut Law Review, the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology and the Yale Law Journal Online. He primarily studies law and technology through the lenses of administrative and criminal law, supplemented by his scientific and empirical work. His cybersecurity instructional text, Cybersecurity: An Interdisciplinary Problem (with Derek Bambauer, Gus Hurwitz, and Charlotte Tschider) is available from West Academic Publishing.

Dr. Thaw is also the founder and faculty director of the CyREN Laboratory, which uses advanced simulation technology and empirical methods to model and analyze how adversaries compromise information systems. As he described in previous work, a lack of empirical basis for the development of cybersecurity policy has been a fundamental weakness which has led not only to ineffective policies, but in some cases actually has weakened overall system security. David’s body of scientific work, which traces back to his doctoral dissertation, attempts to close this gap by designing methods for collecting empirically valid evidence regarding the efficacy of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for cyberattack. This work collects and analyzes real-world cyber data, informing his evidence-based legal and policy scholarship.

Professor Thaw has presented his research to legislatures and policymaking bodies in the United States and allied nations, including the U.S. House of Representatives. He has personally-briefed senior Senate-confirmed officials from the U.S. Department of Defense on his work in cybersecurity and cyber warfare, and regularly presents at cyberlaw events with government agencies worldwide. David also performs pro bono service as a lawyer, including amicus work on privacy and cybercrime issues before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In addition to his public service work, David maintains an active connection between his research and industry. He has served on the Advisory Boards of several multinational tech corporations, and is a co-founder of and member of the Advisory Board of ELPIS, a non-profit facilitating industry collaboration regarding risk and resilience issues for Internet-of-Things cybersecurity. David also co-founded the Obnostic Project as part of his work on a multi-year sponsored research project. Dr. Thaw also has been working for over 20 years in various full- and part-time roles in the technology industry.

Beginning in March 2020, Dr. Thaw began extensively studying the COVID-19 pandemic. His work in this regard focuses on experimental and empirical analysis of public health measures, including vaccine efficacy and other transmission mitigation measures.

Prior to joining the Pitt faculty, David taught at the University of Connecticut and the University of Maryland. He also practiced cybersecurity and privacy regulatory law at Hogan Lovells (formerly Hogan & Hartson) and was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale Law School.

David holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley’s School of Information, a J.D. from Berkeley Law, a M.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley and a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in Government & Politics from the University of Maryland.

Dennis Redeker

Dennis is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bremen, Germany and a fellow at the Information Society Law Center (ISLC).

His research focus is on questions related to the global governance of the Internet, of platforms and of artificial intelligence. Dennis is a founding member of the interdisciplinary Digital Constitutionalism Network, which concerns itself with the role of human rights and fundamental principles in the digital age and the the increasing constitutionalization of digital technologies.

Richárd Rudolf Rák

Dr. Richard Rak hold a Phd from the University of Vienna, the University of Bologna and University of Turin; he has participated in the Law, Science and Technology Joint Doctorate – Rights of Internet of Everything (LAST-JD-RIoE) Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Networks European Joint Doctorate) program.

He holds a master’s degree (dr. jur.) in Law, postgraduate degree (LL.M.) in European Law, two bachelor’s degrees in Economics (specialised in Human Resource Management and in Finance and Accounting) and a Chartered Certified Accountant for Businesses qualification.

His PhD research project on “Internet of Healthcare (Law): Privacy and Data Protection Aspects in an Internet of Everything” focuses on privacy, data protection, data management and AI governance challenges concerning IoT-enabled telehealth solutions and interconnected AI systems.

He is currently working at DIGITALEUROPE.

Jonida Milaj-Weishaar

Jonida Milaj-Weishaar is Assistant Professor in Technology Law and Human Rights at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

Her research falls within the area of Human Rightsand Technology law and is hosted by the Security, Technology and e-Privacy (STeP) interdisciplinary research group. She has always linked her research to pressing societal needs and has actively presented her work in different academic international conferences and professional fora. Jonida has published (alone or in collaboration with others) in renowned peer reviewed international journals and edited volumes, like: European Journal of Law and Technology; International Review of Law, Computers and Technology; International Data Privacy Law; Computer Law and Security Review, etc. She also contributes as a reviewer to various international journals.

Jonida is currently involved in three H2020 projects: MIRROR, CRiTERIA and KnowGraphs and has contributed in drafting various successful joint research projects to which the STeP research group is part. Because of her field of studies and the projects she is involved in, Jonida has first-hand experience in collaborating with researchers from various disciplines and countries.

She teaches and coordinates various courses in the area of Technology Law. She has co-designed and is responsible for the teaching in the newly introduced Technology law track, of the LLB in International and European Law. She has designed new courses and supervises PhD, master’s, and bachelor dissertations in the area of Technology law. She has also co-designed the MOOC on ‘Understanding the GDPR’ that was evaluated in 2019 as the most successful course of all times of the ‘Future Learn’ platform. As of 2019, Jonida is a visiting lecturer at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing and offers annually a course on ‘Information Technology Law’.

Jonida completed her legal education at the University of Padua (Italy) and obtained an advanced LLM degree in European, International and Comparative Law from Maastricht University (the Netherlands). She defended her PhD thesis at the University of Groningen with a focus on surveillance of individuals with non-purpose built technology and devices, and the challenges that these create for the protection of the right to privacy.

Before starting her academic career, Jonida gained practical experience both at national institutions (Parliament of the Republic of Albania) and at international organisations (Council of Europe). Her work in non-academic institutions was composed of legal advice as well as of administrative tasks, which gave her a very good understanding of policymaking and policymakers – the way they work and their needs. She has been exposed to national and international learning, teaching and working experiences that have made her sensitive to cultural differences and needs and enable her to bring her international experience and insights at any collaborative projects.

Stefano Mele

He is Adjunct Professor of “Cyberspace Law and Policies for National Security” at the Faculty of Security Law of the Foggia University, as well as Academic Fellow of the Chair of Cybersecurity at the Department of Legal Studies of Università Bocconi and Academic Fellow at the Chairs of Legal Informatics and Advanced Legal Informatics of the Faculty of Law of the University of Milan.

He is also the President of the Information and Communication Technology Authority (“Autorità ICT”) of the Republic of San Marino.

He is a member of the Board of Directors and the President of the Cyber Security Commission of the Italian Atlantic Committee, as well as the President of the “Working Group on Cybersecurity” of the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy (AMCHAM) and member of the “Steering Committee Cyber Security” of Assolombarda.

In 2020, he was invited to join the prestigious International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) of the U.S. Department of State. Finally, in 2014, the American magazine Forbes included him among the 20 best Cyber Policy Experts in the world to follow on Internet.

Mark Leiser

Dr. Mark Leiser works at the Center for Law and Digital Technologies, is a research fellow of the Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a Pluralist World research program, and thesis coordinator for the Advanced Masters in Law & Digital Technologies at Leiden University.

He also is a visiting professor at the Riga Graduate School of Law and a visiting scholar at Yeditepe University in Istanbul.

He holds a BKO (Dutch teaching qualification), is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (the UK teaching certification), and is affiliated with the Max Planck Institute of Human Development in Berlin, Germany.  He has previously worked at places as diverse as the London School of Economics, SciencePo in Paris, and is a three-time winner of the best paper award at the UK’s largest technology law conference – BILETA.

 

Andreas Kotsios

Andreas is an Associate Professor at Uppsala University in an interdisciplinary project on the risks related to the application of AI technologies in the financial sector. His focus is on the notions of trust and fairness examining their role in the regulation of the different aspects of such technologies. In his doctoral thesis he investigated the interaction between consumer law and data protection law in the EU and some of his articles on data protection have been published at the ACM’s Transactions in Social Computing and the International Journal of Law and Information Technology, Oxford University Press.

Magdalena Jóźwiak

Magdalena Jóźwiak works at Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels as an Associate Researcher with the Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation, Digital Economy unit. At the same time, she is a lecturer at the Law Faculty of Tilburg University (Netherlands) and a fellow at the Datasphere Initiative of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network in Paris (France).

With 10 years of experience working as a researcher and lecturer, Magdalena is an expert the fields of freedom of expression, privacy, and data protection law and jurisprudence, focusing on the human rights’ conflicts in the digital public sphere. In this area Magdalena has published academic papers and gave numerous academic presentations, including at the Stanford Law School, Sciences Po, Humboldt University, University of Copenhagen, University of Edinburgh and University of Amsterdam.

Magdalena graduated with Master of Law degree from Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznań) and LLM degree from Catholic University of Portugal (Lisbon). She held academic positions at the VU Amsterdam and Leiden University and prior to joining the academia she worked as a lawyer in Paris and as a stagiaire at the Court of Justice of the EU (Luxembourg), EPO (Munich) and OECD (Paris).

Jacopo Ciani Sciolla

He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Turin (2011), holds a post-graduate diploma in International Trade Law from ITC-ILO (2011) and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Milan (2016). He has been visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (Munich, Germany) and at the KU Leuven Center for IT & IP Law (Belgium). 

He is author of a monography on “The Public Domain in the Knowledge Society” and of several articles in leading national and international journals. His main research field is intellectual property law in the digital environment, with a particular interest in issues related to data governance, AI authorship, digitization and access to knowledge. Since 2020, Mr. Ciani has been appointed Assistant Editor of Kritika: Essays on Intellectual Property, edited by Edward Elgar Publishing.

Sandra Cassotta

Associate Professor in International, Environmental and Energy Law, Aalborg University.

Non-resident Research Fellow at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm.

She was appointed Lead Author on Environmental Governance and Polar Regions (Arctic and Antarctic) at the International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) United Nations. She is specialized in environmental damage and liability problems in a multilevel context. Her expertise is on environmental regime effectiveness in a multi-level governance perspective. Included in her areas of interests are human rights, law of the sea (UNCLOS), and environmental security (particularly that of the Arctic Ocean), Energy Security and Geopolitics. Though a legal scholar, her approach is interdisciplinary, combining law with international relations, economics, and elements of (climate) environmental science. Sandra is also Adjunt Professor of Law, School of Law, Western Sydney University (Sydney, Australia), Fellow at the Sustainability College Bruges – SCB (Belgium), Expert Research Fellow at the Institute for Security and Development Policy, ISDP working on the Sino-Arctic Research Programme (Stockholm, Sweden), Member of the Governamental Panel of Assessemnt for the Academy of Finland for Governamental Projects on Environmental Law and Economcis and Expert at the European Commission (DG Clima Adaptation) and the European Parliament.

Dr. Cassotta was born and raised in Brussels. She holds a B.A. in language from the European School of Brussels (Uccle), an M.S. in political science from the State University of Milan (Italy), and Ph.D. in international environmental law from Aarhus University (Denmark). She worked for 14 years in the private and public sectors, and worked as media press and information officer at the International Olive Oil Council (United Nations aegis) for several years in Madrid (Spain), writing press releases, session reports of intergovernmental meetings, and official briefings for the executive director.