Conceptual and theoretical approaches to ethical issues in translational health sciences
Scientific and technological advances in health research, including the expanding applications of artificial intelligence (AI), raise new and difficult questions for ethics: how, in a rapidly changing health landscape, can we ensure that research and innovation occurs ethically? The aim of this module is to train students in the application and integration of philosophical thinking to research and policy challenges in translational health sciences. Students will develop transferable skills that will enable them to think clearly about and address ethical issues they may encounter, both in their own professional domains and broader society.
The module will be structured around two learning approaches:
- Seminars
Seminars will cover a range of themes relevant to translational health science, through interactive discussion of real-world examples and examination of contemporary debates. For example:
- Research Ethics: What makes research ethical? What is the relationship between regulation and policy, and ethics?
- AI in Translational Health: What is the appropriate role for AI in the care context? How should we address issues like algorithmic bias? Can AI really live up to the hype?
- Data and Governance: Why is data privacy important, and how should it be balanced against public good? What is the role of trust in the ethics of data sharing, collection, and storage?
- Ethics and Technology: What is the role of ethical concepts like 'fairness', 'autonomy' and 'dignity' in debates about genetic enhancement or neurotechnology?
- Justice and Health: How should we manage health inequalities? Does unequal always mean unjust?
These discussions will develop your competence in pursuing careful reflection, conceptual clarity and coherent argumentation in the practical context of translational health science.
2. 'Author-Meets-Critics'
Students will be assigned a key paper, drawn from the current academic literature. Throughout the week, we will examine and critique the arguments presented in these papers, as a class and in pairs. At the end of the week, students working in small groups will present a critical reflection on their assigned paper directly to its academic author, followed by a wider class disscussion with each author. This unique opportunity to discuss contemporary topics with subject-matter experts will allow students to put into practice the philosophical skills they've been developing throughout the week in a constructive and collegial environment.
Below is a selection of topics from previous years:
- The moral obligation to participate in clinical research
- The ethics of uterine transplantation
- The use of health data for machine-learning and AI
- Authenticity and deep-brain stiumlation
- Researching invloving children in LMICs
- The ethics of human-animal chimeras
- Manadatory vaccination for healthcare workers
- Paying people to adopt healthy behaviours
The last date for receipt of complete applications is 5pm Thursday 22nd January 2026. Regrettably, late applications cannot be accepted.
Course Aims
On completion of this module we expect our students to be able to:
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Ethically interrogate the practical and policy context of translational science, especially in relation to implementation of research findings at individual or organisational level
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Describe and critically engage with the rationale for governance in research generally, the social science of science and knowledge translation
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Critically evaluate the ethics of specific research studies by identifying and addressing relevant concerns including privacy and confidentiality, models of informed consent, risks and benefits to participants, and methodology specifically in relation to translational health science research
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Critically explore concepts and theories of justice with particular attention to their application to health inequalities, resource allocation, and their relationship to social determinants
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Critically explore the role of values, beliefs, expectations, culture and politics in science with particular attention to the way in which they influence translational health science
Research methods and techniques taught in this module:
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Conceptual analysis, argumentation (the methods of philosophical and theological ethics – constructing arguments, criticising arguments)
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Empirical ethics (the intersection of normative and empirical methodologies, bringing arguments about philosophical principles together with social science methodologies)
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Application of the above to the study of translational science