Disease and the modern self: becoming autoimmune. This will be the first historical analysis of concepts of autoimmunity. A conceptual history of a disease category, the book will also incorporate patient experience, scientific ideas about the immunological 'self', and an examination of the connections and articulations of research laboratories and hospital clinics in the twentieth century.
The Cold War Obesity Crisis: Fatness, Public Health, and Medical Science in the United States, 1940-1970. In 1951 the US Public Health Service declared obesity, newly reinterpreted as an addictive disorder, to be the nation’s leading health problem. This project will be the first to study the course of this early obesity crisis, analysing the interaction between popular perception, biomedical science and health policy, all in the political and cultural context of postwar America. Research will e ....The Cold War Obesity Crisis: Fatness, Public Health, and Medical Science in the United States, 1940-1970. In 1951 the US Public Health Service declared obesity, newly reinterpreted as an addictive disorder, to be the nation’s leading health problem. This project will be the first to study the course of this early obesity crisis, analysing the interaction between popular perception, biomedical science and health policy, all in the political and cultural context of postwar America. Research will especially focus on the competing efforts of several biomedical disciplines and their scientific leaders to define the problem and shape responses to it. The goal is to understand the ways science and medicine related to social forces in the episode, and to derive lessons for today’s global obesity crisis.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100550
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$356,808.00
Summary
Bioethics in the Antipodes: A history of Australian bioethics since 1980. This project aims to provide a comprehensive account of bioethics in Australia. Since the 1980s, bioethics sought to address the medical, legal and social implications of Australian research in reproductive medicine. Australian bioethics is often assumed to share a similar history to American bioethics, but the debate about reproduction, euthanasia and the nature of moral authority in secular liberal democracy is distinctl ....Bioethics in the Antipodes: A history of Australian bioethics since 1980. This project aims to provide a comprehensive account of bioethics in Australia. Since the 1980s, bioethics sought to address the medical, legal and social implications of Australian research in reproductive medicine. Australian bioethics is often assumed to share a similar history to American bioethics, but the debate about reproduction, euthanasia and the nature of moral authority in secular liberal democracy is distinctly Australian. To date, the history of these developments has not been examined. The project will use archival sources, interviews, and theoretical analysis. Potential benefits include a deeper understanding of the distinctive local and global contributions of Australian bioethics.Read moreRead less
Manufacturing consensus: Independence in consensus statements in health. The project plans to conduct the first international systematic inquiry into the value, use and protection of public interest in consensus statements in health. Consensus statements based on scientific evidence are a useful platform to progress policy and practice in an environment of uncertainty. Consensus statements acknowledge both the importance of evidence but also the imperatives for action. However, there is concern ....Manufacturing consensus: Independence in consensus statements in health. The project plans to conduct the first international systematic inquiry into the value, use and protection of public interest in consensus statements in health. Consensus statements based on scientific evidence are a useful platform to progress policy and practice in an environment of uncertainty. Consensus statements acknowledge both the importance of evidence but also the imperatives for action. However, there is concern that they are inefficient, easily co-opted by interest groups and have changed the way the enterprise of science is perceived. The project aims to help inform future processes for improving the incorporation of evidence in policy and practice in a way that balances pragmatic, scientific and public concerns.Read moreRead less
Tuberculosis in Southern Africa: the history of a pandemic. South Africa and the states which supply workers to the gold mines of Johannesburg today have the highest rates of pulmonary tuberculosis in the world. This project will explore the role of the gold mines in creating a pandemic of a disease which was not so long ago considered to be in permanent retreat.
Climate change and the history of environmental determinism. In previous centuries, most scientists presumed that environment and climate determined human health, capacities and difference. By tracing this longstanding idea through the twentieth century, this project will identify implications for current climate science.
Imagining Indonesian psychiatry: Past, present, and future. This research project will result in the first history of psychiatry in a non-Western country. The project will investigate how psychiatry developed in Indonesia, a developing country where Islam is the dominant religion, by analysing the ideas of Indonesian psychiatrists on the nature and treatment of mental disorder. The project will analyse their ideas on the role of cultural factors in the expression of mental illness and the influe ....Imagining Indonesian psychiatry: Past, present, and future. This research project will result in the first history of psychiatry in a non-Western country. The project will investigate how psychiatry developed in Indonesia, a developing country where Islam is the dominant religion, by analysing the ideas of Indonesian psychiatrists on the nature and treatment of mental disorder. The project will analyse their ideas on the role of cultural factors in the expression of mental illness and the influence of Western ideas. Mental disorder constitutes a significant and increasing burden of death and disability around the world. In articles and a monograph, this study aims to present the perspective of Indonesian psychiatrists on the development, the current state, and the challenges their disciplines face in the near future. Read moreRead less
A methodological analysis of the application of evolutionary medicine to non-communicable diseases. This project draws on recent work in philosophy of science to understand how evolutionary thinking can inform medical research. It will analyse how evolutionary thinking contributed to recent advances in understanding diseases such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and facilitate extending this approach to new areas of health and disease.
Culture-bound syndromes, koro, and the emergence of 'cosmopolitan' psychiatry. This historical study examines the concepts of ethnicity used by psychiatrists by focusing on the ways in which one culture-bound syndrome, koro, moved from being exclusively South-East Asian to being found in a number of cultures. It will develop significant understandings of psychiatric conceptions of cultural difference.
Manufacturing consensus: Independence in consensus statements in health. The project plans to conduct the first international systematic inquiry into the value, use and protection of public interest in consensus statements in health. Consensus statements based on scientific evidence are a useful platform to progress policy and practice in an environment of uncertainty. Consensus statements acknowledge both the importance of evidence but also the imperatives for action. However, there is concern ....Manufacturing consensus: Independence in consensus statements in health. The project plans to conduct the first international systematic inquiry into the value, use and protection of public interest in consensus statements in health. Consensus statements based on scientific evidence are a useful platform to progress policy and practice in an environment of uncertainty. Consensus statements acknowledge both the importance of evidence but also the imperatives for action. However, there is concern that they are inefficient, easily co-opted by interest groups and have changed the way the enterprise of science is perceived. The project aims to help inform future processes for improving the incorporation of evidence in policy and practice in a way that balances pragmatic, scientific and public concerns.Read moreRead less