The EU is refining how sensitive medical data can be reused for science, with GDPR, sector rules, and AI governance converging into a stricter compliance stack.
AI can lift novelty, impact, and productivity in research, especially in data-rich fields, but it also brings quieter threats: narrower agendas, dependency on a few providers, and geopolitical friction.
New guidance clarifies how research projects can process personal data, but it still leaves room for difficult choices on consent, retention, reuse, and subject rights.