Why do we care about the foundations of evidence-based medicine (“EBM”)?

1280px-Lotyšské_etnografické_muzeum_v_přírodě_(91)
Photo via Latvian Ethnographic Open Air Museum

by Samantha Copeland

CauseHealth has been pushing buttons all over the place, lately, as we pursue our goal of critiquing current frameworks in EBM by proposing some deep questions about its ontology*. We aren’t the only ones—at recent events, we have found people from various communities in medicine are ready and willing to raise and engage some tough questions, about what evidence is and how it might best be used. Reflecting on two recent events we attended, in this blog post I want to think a little bit about the relationship between understanding the foundations of EBM, and putting the ideals of EBM to work for us in medical practice. Continue reading “Why do we care about the foundations of evidence-based medicine (“EBM”)?”

PhD thesis on serendipity wins award

Samantha Marie Copeland
Samantha Marie Copeland

Philosopher and CauseHealth Postdoc, Samantha Copeland, has won one of two Best Thesis Awards from Dalhousie University for her doctoral thesis The Case of the Triggered Memory: Serendipitous Discovery and the Ethics of Clinical Research. She has also been selected as their nominee for the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies Distinguished Dissertation Award in Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences for 2016. Congratulations! Read more about her work on serendipity and get the full text version of the thesis.

Metaphysics in Science – It’s there whether we like it or not

Fredrik UMB-031283
Fredrik Andersen is PhD-student at NMBU and a CauseHealth collaborator

There is metaphysics in science, but not everyone acknowledges this. A recent paper by Fredrik Andersen and Jonas R. Becker Arenhart, published in Metaphilosophy, argues that Physics is no exception and that all successful scientific research presupposes metaphysics. Continue reading “Metaphysics in Science – It’s there whether we like it or not”

Carrying on the N=1 Discussion

By Samantha Copeland NBVU-000303

Participants have agreed that the January 12-13 workshop, N=1 Causal Reasoning and Evidence for Clinical Practice, jointly held by CauseHealth and Trinity at NMBU, was a success!  This was due to the active and engaged participation of our speakers as well as others who came to be a part of our audience and discussions. We’d first like to thank everyone who presented and, equally important, everyone who shared their ideas and expertise with us by participating in the workshop. Continue reading “Carrying on the N=1 Discussion”

The CauseHealth and Trinity workshop “N=1 – causal reasoning in clinical practice”

by Elena Rocca

The workshop “N=1 – causal reasoning in clinical practice” was a perfect start of the new year for the CauseHealth friends. On the 12th of January the NMBU University campus in Ås welcomed us with a beautiful snowy landscape, and authentic Norwegian winter. Continue reading “The CauseHealth and Trinity workshop “N=1 – causal reasoning in clinical practice””

The first CauseHealth meeting

By Samantha Copeland

This CauseHealth network meeting brought together philosophers, medical practitioners and researchers in the health sciences to share their perspectives on human health and illness. Read about the first meeting in their guest editorial for the European Journal for Person Centered Healthcare. Continue reading “The first CauseHealth meeting”

What is science and why do health professionals need to know?

by Rani Lill Anjum

On Monday 23rd November, Stephen Mumford and Roger Kerry gave a two-part lecture at the Council for Allied Health Professions Research London Hub – Evening Lecture. The topic was ‘What is Science and Why do Health Professionals Need to Know?’. Handouts and a podcast from the event are available here. Continue reading “What is science and why do health professionals need to know?”

Welcome to the CauseHealth blog!

By Rani Lill Anjum (@ranilillanjum)

This is a blog for the research project Causation, Complexity and Evidence in Health Sciences (CauseHealth). Allow me to present the team and some of our ideas. Continue reading “Welcome to the CauseHealth blog!”