[Translate to Englisch:] Leanne Torgersen

Leanne Torgersen

E-Mail: s1letorguni-trierde

My name is Leanne and I am a registered nurse in the United States. I have two bachelor's degrees in nursing and in physiology, as well as two master's degrees in public health (health policy and management) and in clinical research. I have extensive experience in clinical research, patient care, research administration and research in both the United States and Norway. I have been involved in all phases of the research process, including work on laboratory, clinical and qualitative research studies and projects. In Boston, I have worked at three major medical centers, including the departments of Hematology/Oncology, Rheumatology, Infectious Diseases, Pulmonary Diseases, and Gastroenterology. As a nurse practitioner, I have worked in the cardiopulmonary unit (post-ICU) at Spaulding Hospital in Cambridge, MA, and in the sub-acute care/rehabilitation unit at Stone Rehabilitation and Assisted Living in Newton, MA.

Because of these beliefs, I am excited to be working on a PhD in Nursing Science and to be a member of the Schulz research team at Trier University. I continue to focus on the areas of psychology (emotion and stress regulation, anxiety and cognitive psychology), communication and decision making aids/barriers as well as human factors and cybersecurity.

The title of my dissertation project is: “Informed patient consent, ethical and legal implications in the context of digital vulnerability through smart implantable electronic cardiac devices”.

With advances in the digitization of implantable cardiac electronic devices (CIEDs), patients are offered greater opportunities for increased autonomy, quality of life and a potential increase in life expectancy. Despite the digital and functional benefits of CIEDs, there are cybersecurity issues with wireless information transmission, and patients with CIEDs always “carry” two types of risks due to these cyber vulnerabilities. For these patients, cyber risks can result in both the loss of sensitive data and the loss of control of the CIED by an unknown and unwanted party, thus not only compromising the integrity of the CIED, but also posing a direct threat to the patient's privacy and personal health. Without effective and detailed communication during the consent process, CIED patients are unaware of the cyber risks they are taking.

Since ethical care and patient-centered care are key components of the informed consent process, and since the cyber risks with CIEDs have been publicized for more than a decade, which can be considered foreseeable risks, patients have the right to know about the cyber risks with CIEDs. Therefore, my research initially focuses on understanding the current informed consent process and level of knowledge of physicians and patients about cyber risks, how concerned they are about the cyber risks of CIEDs, and to what extent patients want to be informed about the cyber risks of these devices. The aim of this research is to develop standardized cyber-risk guidelines for informed consent and manufacturer manuals.

Educational experience:

Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Simmons University, Boston, Massachusetts
Master of Science in Clinical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions, Boston, Massachusetts
Master of Public Health, Health Policy and Management, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Bachelor of Science in Physiology, University of California Davis, Davis, California

Links to the online research profile:

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