Research in the Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine (established January 2012) focuses on the social, political, economic, legal and ethical factors shaping developments in biomedicine, disease and healthcare and their implications.
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social determinants of national and global inequalities in health, including from life-course and international comparative perspectives;
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philosophical and ethical aspects of global health pertaining to theories of social justice;
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social, ethical and political implications of developments in psychiatry, neuroscience and brain research, and the changing territory of mental health;
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political economy, sociology and history of pharmaceutical regulation, innovation and pharmaceuticalization, especially drug safety and efficacy;
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politics of cost-effectiveness of pharmaceuticals and drug pricing regulation;
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social, ethical, and regulatory aspects of personalised and data-driven medicine, of bio-information use in forensics and policing, and of innovation and translation in genomics, stem cells and neuroscience;
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the ethical and social implications of conducting research with human participants, and of making treatment decisions at the end of life (determination of death in transplantation medicine);
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movements for 'people's health' in developing countries and the implications of transformations to new models of community healthcare;
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social, economic and policy consequences of ageing populations in developed and developing worlds;
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family care and support in later life, with a particular focus on international comparative work;
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life course influences on health and wellbeing at older ages, including life-long disorders;
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social and ethical consequences of the capitalisation of healthcare and the roles of solidarity, justice and priority-setting in biomedicine and health care;
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social and ethical implications of emerging biotechnologies, bio-politics and the global bio-economy;
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medical anthropology and science and technology studies pertaining to knowledge, expertise, morality, safety and security;
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medical anthropology, history, and public health of Sub-Saharan Africa;
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socio-political and cultural dimensions of global health research, policy and innovation in developing countries, including disease control interventions such as outbreak response and preparedness;
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social and political history of biosciences in the global south.