Dr Aisling McMahon

Law, ALL Institute

Lecturer

New House

Biography

Dr McMahon joins Maynooth from Durham University where she was an Assistant Professor in Biolaw and Co-Director of the Centre for Ethics Law and the Life Sciences (CELLS) (2017-2018). Prior to that, she was a lecturer in law at Newcastle University (2014-2017) and previously an AHRC research fellow on the 'Banking (On) the Brain' project at the University of Edinburgh.

Aisling’s research specialises in medical and intellectual property law. She is particularly interested in the regulation of emerging health technologies and the relationship between intellectual property and bioethical concerns relating to emerging health-related technologies. Recent projects include work funded by the British Academy examining the divergent legal approaches to gene patentability that have emerged in the EU, US, and Canada. This research adopts a comparative institutional approach to highlight the influences shaping these legal approaches, the practical consequences of their adoption, and the factors underlying their disjunction with social expectations on access to diagnostic testing. Aisling’s PhD from the University of Edinburgh examined the morality provisions in the European patent system for biotechnological inventions. She was awarded a Principal's Career Development from the University of Edinburgh to support this research.  

Aisling has been a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford (Caroline Miles Visiting Scholar), the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, and the Hastings Center. She was Managing Editor (2012-2013) and Editor-in-Chief (2013-2015) of SCRIPTed Journal of Law, Technology and Society, and is currently the Book Reviews Editor for Medical Law International  (2017-present).

From 2010-2011, Aisling worked as a judicial researcher in the Four Courts, Dublin. She holds BCL (first class honours) and LLM (Law, Technology and Governance) (first class honours) degrees from the National University of Ireland Galway. 


Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
2019 'Gene Patents and the Marginalisation of Ethical Issues'
Aisling McMahon (2019) 'Gene Patents and the Marginalisation of Ethical Issues'. European Intellectual Property Review, [Details]
2019 'Big data governance needs more collective responsibility: The role of harm mitigation in the governance of data use in medicine and beyond'
Aisling McMahon; Alena Buyx, Barbara Prainsack (2019) 'Big data governance needs more collective responsibility: The role of harm mitigation in the governance of data use in medicine and beyond'. Medical Law Review, [Details]
2019 'After the 8th: Ireland, Abortion and International Law'
Aisling McMahon & Bríd Ní Ghrainne (2019) 'After the 8th: Ireland, Abortion and International Law'. Medico-Legal Journal of Ireland, [IR Link] [Details]
2019 'Access to Abortion in Cases of Fatal Fetal Abnormality: A New Direction for the European Court of Human Rights?''
Bríd Ní Ghráinne & Aisling McMahon (2019) 'Access to Abortion in Cases of Fatal Fetal Abnormality: A New Direction for the European Court of Human Rights?''. Human Rights Law Review, [IR Link] [Details]
2019 'Abortion in Northern Ireland and the ECHR: Reflections from the UK Supreme Court'
Bríd Ní Ghráinne & Aisling McMahon (2019) 'Abortion in Northern Ireland and the ECHR: Reflections from the UK Supreme Court'. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, [IR Link] [Details]
2018 'Brexit and the Unitary Patent Package: A Further Compromised Future?'
Aisling McMahon (2018) 'Brexit and the Unitary Patent Package: A Further Compromised Future?'. SCRIPted, [Details]
2017 'A Public International Law Approach to Safeguard Nationality for Surrogate Born Children'
Bríd Ní Ghráinne & Aisling McMahon (2017) 'A Public International Law Approach to Safeguard Nationality for Surrogate Born Children'. Legal Studies, 37 (2):324-342 [DOI] [Details]
2017 'An Institutional Examination of the Implications of the Unitary Patent Package for the Morality Provisions: A Fragmented future too Far?'
Aisling McMahon (2017) 'An Institutional Examination of the Implications of the Unitary Patent Package for the Morality Provisions: A Fragmented future too Far?'. IIC International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law, 48 (1):42-70 [DOI] [Details]
2014 'Banking (on) the Brain: From Consent to Authorisation and the Transformative Potential of Solidarity'
Shawn Harmon & Aisling McMahon (2014) 'Banking (on) the Brain: From Consent to Authorisation and the Transformative Potential of Solidarity'. Medical Law Review, 22 (4):572-605 [DOI] [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
2016 '‘Patents, Human Biobanks and Access to Health Benefits: Bridging the Public–Private Divide’'
Aisling McMahon (2016) '‘Patents, Human Biobanks and Access to Health Benefits: Bridging the Public–Private Divide’' In: Jessica Lai and Antoinette Maget Dominicé (eds). Intellectual Property and Access to Im/Material Goods. UK: Edward Elgar. [Details]
2014 'Children and Social Networking : An Irish Perspective'
Aisling McMahon (2014) 'Children and Social Networking : An Irish Perspective' In: Paul Lambert (eds). Social Networking: Law, Rights and Policy. Dublin: Clarus Press. [Details]

Other Journals

  Year Publication
2010 'Journalists' Privilege in light of Mahon v. Keena'
Aisling McMahon (2010) 'Journalists' Privilege in light of Mahon v. Keena' Irish Law Times, 28 . [Details]

Conference Contributions

  Year Publication
2019 Patents and De-extinction.
Aisling McMahon and David Doyle (2019) Patents and De-extinction. [Oral Presentation], Patent Scholars Network Workshop, Maynooth University , 20-JUN-19 - 21-JUN-19 [Details]
2019 Gene Patents and the Marginalisation of Ethical Issues.
Aisling McMahon (2019) Gene Patents and the Marginalisation of Ethical Issues. [Oral Presentation], RIBS/CEBIL Symposium, Centre for Advanced Studies in Biomedical Innovation Law (CEBIL), University of Copenhagen Faculty of Law , 12-JUN-19 - 12-JUN-19 [Details]
2019 Patent Licensing for ‘Ethical’ Use: A missed regulatory opportunity?.
Aisling McMahon (2019) Patent Licensing for ‘Ethical’ Use: A missed regulatory opportunity?. [Oral Presentation], Regulation and Innovation in the Biosciences(RIBS), Centre for Advanced Studies in Biomedical Innovation Law at the University of Copenhagen Faculty of Law , 10-JUN-19 - 11-JUN-19 [Details]
2019 Biotechnology and Patents as Private Governance Tools?.
Aisling McMahon (2019) Biotechnology and Patents as Private Governance Tools?. [Oral Presentation], Patent Scholars Network Workshop, University of Exeter, United Kingdom , 11-APR-19 - 12-APR-19 [Details]
2019 ‘Contracts and the Human Body: Mapping the moral limits’.
Aisling McMahon (2019) ‘Contracts and the Human Body: Mapping the moral limits’. [Oral Presentation], Contract Law and the Legislature Workshop, University of York, United Kingdom , 11-JAN-19 - 12-JAN-19 [Details]
2018 ‘Emerging Biotechnologies, Morality & Overlapping Supra-national frameworks in the ‘European Patent System’.
Aisling McMahon (2018) ‘Emerging Biotechnologies, Morality & Overlapping Supra-national frameworks in the ‘European Patent System’. [Refereed Abstracts], American Society of International Law Research Forum, UCLA, Los Angeles , 09-NOV-18 - 11-NOV-18 [Details]
2018 Patents as Private Governance Tools: The Good, The Bad and The Potential for Ugly?.
Aisling McMahon (2018) Patents as Private Governance Tools: The Good, The Bad and The Potential for Ugly?. [Invited Oral Presentation], Regulating the Tyrell Corporation: Company Law and the emergence of Novel Beings, Wellcome Trust, London , 25-OCT-18 - 26-OCT-18 [Details]
2018 Commodification, control, and the contractualisation of the human body.
TT Arvind and Aisling McMahon (2018) Commodification, control, and the contractualisation of the human body. [Oral Presentation], The Limits of the Market: Commodification of nature and body (Interdisciplinary Workshop), University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne , 13-SEP-18 - 14-SEP-18 [Details]
2018 Emerging Biotechnologies, Morality and Overlapping Supra-national frameworks in the “European Patent System”: Too Many Cooks?.
Aisling McMahon (2018) Emerging Biotechnologies, Morality and Overlapping Supra-national frameworks in the “European Patent System”: Too Many Cooks?. [Oral Presentation], Society of Legal Scholars Conference, Queen Mary University of London , 04-SEP-18 - 04-SEP-18 [Details]

Blog

  Year Publication
2018 Ireland’s 8th amendment is a breach of its own human rights commitments.
Aisling McMahon & Bríd NíGhráinne (2018) Ireland’s 8th amendment is a breach of its own human rights commitments. Blog [Details]
2017 Gene Patents and Access to Health: Speaking At But Not To Each Other?.
Aisling McMahon (2017) Gene Patents and Access to Health: Speaking At But Not To Each Other?. Ethox Centre, University of Oxford: Blog [Details]

Book Review

  Year Publication
2017 Book Review: Surrogacy, Law and Human Rights.
Aisling McMahon (2017) Book Review: Surrogacy, Law and Human Rights. Book Review [Details]
2012 Law and the Regulation of Medicines.
Aisling McMahon (2012) Law and the Regulation of Medicines. Book Review [Details]
2012 Uma Suthersan, Graham Dutfield & Kit Boey Chen (Eds), Innovation without Patents: Harnessing the Creative Spirit in a Diverse World.
Aisling McMahon (2012) Uma Suthersan, Graham Dutfield & Kit Boey Chen (Eds), Innovation without Patents: Harnessing the Creative Spirit in a Diverse World. Book Review [Details]

Report

  Year Publication
2012 Banking (On) the Brain: A Report on the Legal and Regulatory Concerns.
Aisling McMahon & Shawn Harmon (2012) Banking (On) the Brain: A Report on the Legal and Regulatory Concerns. Report [Details]

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
2014 Principal's Career Development Scholarship University of Edinburgh
2016 ESRC Impact Accelerator Fund, Newcastle University (Co-Investigator) Economic Social and Research Council (ESRC) (UK)
2016 Faculty Research Fund, Newcastle University (Co-Investigator) Newcastle University
2017 British Academy/Leverhulme Grant British Academy/Leverhulme
2017 Caroline Miles Visiting Scholarship Ethox Centre, University of Oxford
2008 Michael MacNamara Scholarship for LLM Law, Technology & Governance (NUIG) RDJ Glynn Solicitors, Galway

Reviews

  Journal Role
Scripted Editor-in-Chief

Teaching Interests

Over the years, Aisling has taught a range of law modules in the NUI Galway, University of Edinburgh, Newcastle University and Durham University.  She obtained the Newcastle Teaching Award (2015)  a teaching qualification comprising 40 credits at Masters level and she is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK). Aisling was nominated for Taught Supervisor of the Year and Innovative Teaching Methods awards in Newcastle University’s Teaching Excellence Awards 2015-2016.