Conceptual and theoretical approaches to ethical issues in translational health sciences
This module will examine conceptual and theoretical approaches to broad ethical issues (including social and political contexts) in translational health sciences. We will introduce you to key traditions of thought and methodologies in ethics and applied philosophy. You will be encouraged to view research and health science in relation to the nature of society, its values and its institutions. Our focus will be on the practical application and integration of ethical principles to research and policy challenges.
The module will consist of a number of themes and topics, each of which will be explored using cases and real-world examples relevant to translational health science. For example:
-
Methodologies in ethics: normative conceptual analysis and empirical ethics
-
Research ethics and governance: managing research in society
-
Data use and data sharing: access, benefit and common purpose
-
Health, justice and the social: managing health inequalities and justice
-
Health technologies, hypes and hopes: the ethics and culture of science
These topics will develop your competence in pursuing careful reflection, conceptual clarity and coherent argumentation in the practical context of translational health science.
The last date for receipt of complete applications is 5pm Friday 19th January 2024. Regrettably, late applications cannot be accepted.
Course Aims
On completion of this module we expect our students to be able to:
-
Ethically interrogate the practical and policy context of translational science, especially in relation to implementation of research findings at individual or organisational level
-
Describe and critically engage with the rationale for governance in research generally, the social science of science and knowledge translation
-
Critically evaluate the ethics of specific research studies by 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
-
Critically explore concepts and theories of justice with particular attention to their application to health inequalities, resource allocation, and their relationship to social determinants
-
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:
-
Conceptual analysis, argumentation (the methods of philosophical and theological ethics – constructing arguments, criticising arguments)
-
Empirical ethics (the intersection of normative and empirical methodologies, bringing arguments about philosophical principles together with social science methodologies)
-
Application of the above to the study of translational science
Examples of case studies to be discussed in this module:
-
Research ethics and governance: the UK National Research Ethics Service ethics review process
-
Big data and data use: the NIHR Health Informatics Collaborative
-
Personalised/precision medicine: US Precision Medicine Initiative/100K Genomes Project
-
Justice and health inequalities: NICE’s Citizens’ Council and ‘Social value judgements’