Overview
Alya Sulaiman helps clients navigate complex regulatory, privacy and transactional matters related to technology, with a focus on data strategy, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Clients turn to Alya for her guidance across key areas, including:
- Providing strategic legal and regulatory guidance during the conception, development, launch and support of digital health products and services
- Developing AI governance policies, vendor management programs and compliance frameworks
- Negotiating data use and health information sharing agreements and technology licenses (software, SaaS, PaaS, data licenses)
- Guiding technology vendor oversight and AI system risk assessments
- Structuring and drafting contractual frameworks for data exchange, joint development and collaboration arrangements
- Designing and implementing information blocking compliance and health information sharing strategies consistent with federal and state regulatory requirements
- Advising on proposed regulatory and legislative changes that impact digital health, health information exchange and AI.
Alya counsels companies on legal and business frameworks for developing and deploying innovative technologies, including predictive analytics, decision support algorithms, electronic health records, interoperability tools, health data platforms and digital therapeutics. As a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), Alya draws on her extensive privacy and security law knowledge to help clients comply with regulatory obligations while achieving strategic business objectives and maintaining public trust.
Prior to joining McDermott, Alya worked at the intersection of healthcare and technology as corporate counsel and director of health policy and regulatory affairs for a leading global healthcare software company. She has valuable in-house experience working with software engineering teams, product managers, external affairs, sales and compliance. Earlier in her career, she led legal and privacy functions at a healthcare data organization, a multi-specialty healthcare provider and an innovative software analytics company.
Results
- Advised a health data platform company on its product roadmap and opportunities created by recent Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology health information sharing regulations
- Assisted digital health product and engineering teams to navigate US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) market pathways and assess the regulatory status of a clinical decision support (CDS) tool
- Counseled a health insurance company on integrating a generative AI large language model (LLM) into utilization management workflows
- Created an AI use case intake and evaluation process and AI governance framework for a direct-to-consumer technology company
- Guided a national health intelligence platform company through the Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN) application process under the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA)
Community
- International Association of Privacy Professionals
- American Health Law Association
- Coalition for Health AI (CHAI), Working Group – Data Privacy & Security
Credentials
Education
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, JD, 2014
The University of Texas at Austin, BA, 2011
Admissions
California
Languages
English
