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Research with Health Data: Ethical Issues, Risk Mitigation, and Data Management Practices @ EUTOPIA Health workshop, Ljubljana
Health data offers immense potential for advancing medical research, but it also raises pressing ethical questions. This lecture and the following workshop explore the complex landscape of working with health-related data, from informed consent and data anonymization to governance challenges and cross-border sharing. Participants will gain practical insights into identifying ethical risks, applying mitigation strategies,…
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Source framing triggers systematic bias in large language models
Abstract Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used to evaluate text, raising urgent questions about whether their judgments are consistent, unbiased, and robust to framing effects. Here, we examine inter- and intramodel agreement across four state-of-the-art LLMs tasked with evaluating 4800 narrative statements on 24 different topics of social, political, and public health relevance, for…
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Psychedelics beyond medicine: Treatment, enhancement, hype, consent, and the limits of medicalization
The current revival of interest in classic psychedelics and other psychoactives such as ketamine and MDMA, coupled with changes to their regulatory status in many jurisdictions, necessitates rigorous ethical guidelines both within and beyond clinical and scientific contexts. This paper examines crucial ethical, philosophical, and policy considerations needed to ensure psychedelic use across various settings…
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A Mixed-methods Study of Deep Brain Stimulation’s Temporal Impact on Parkinson’s Disease Patients: Insights from Short-, Medium-, and Long-term Experiences
Introduction Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a well-established neurosurgical treatment and is considered the standard of care for refractory Parkinson’s disease (PD). While the evaluation of DBS outcomes is often focused on therapeutic efficacy and motor improvement, this approach overlooks patients’ daily functioning and their adaptation to living with the device over time. Objective This…
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S.A.R.A.H. and the decline of trust in health information: a case study
This case study critically examines S.A.R.A.H. (Smart AI Resource Assistant for Health) as an element of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) digital health strategy, focusing on its design and generated content. Launched in April 2024 to provide accessible health information and combat misinformation, S.A.R.A.H. utilizes generative AI to engage users across diverse health topics. Despite…
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Mastering critical thinking skills is strongly associated with the ability to recognize fakeness and misinformation
In today’s world of information overload, people need skills to quickly and critically evaluate online content; they must be able to consider the credibility and quality of information as well as recognize fake and misleading information. Here, we operationalize critical thinking skills into 6 measurable concepts (i.e., causation and correlation, independent data and replicates, reproducibility,…
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Introducing Preference Epidemiology: Improving Patient-Centered Approaches in Health Decision-Making
Preference epidemiology is an emerging field that examines how individual values, preferences, and perceptions influence health-related choices, particularly in contexts involving complex trade-offs between benefits, burdens, risks and harms. This commentary introduces the concept of preference epidemiology, exploring its significance in shaping patient-centered healthcare policies and communication strategies. By systematically capturing the diversity in individual…
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TERA @ UiO – CME visiting fellow 2025
In this deck I present my overall work and research interests, and an update on the TERA (Translating Ethics into Regulatory Action) research project, which is the core topic for my visiting period @ University of Oslo – Center for Medical Ethics.
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On Religious Influence in Bioethics: The Limits of Pluriversalism
The World Congress of Bioethics held in Qatar in 2024 (WCB 2024) sparked controversy around the role of religion in bioethics, highlighting the need for critical discussions. During the congress, there was a strong push for incorporating religious values into bioethical discourse, raising questions about the validity and implications of such an approach. This paper…
