The impact of Big Data on biomedical research: from epistemic to ethical and political considerations
Federico Boem
Università degli Studi di Milano
DEIB - BIO1 Room (building 21, first floor)
April 13th, 2018
11.00 am
Contacts:
Viola Schiaffonati
Research Line:
Artificial intelligence and robotics
Università degli Studi di Milano
DEIB - BIO1 Room (building 21, first floor)
April 13th, 2018
11.00 am
Contacts:
Viola Schiaffonati
Research Line:
Artificial intelligence and robotics
Abstract
Big Data science is often invoked by an increasing number of biomedical scientists as a way to justify not just the methodology of their approach but also both the quality and the power of it. As a matter of fact, Big Data had a strong impact on the life sciences in many ways. The speed of processing, the range of feasible experiments, the type of possible questions have dramatically changed both the theory and practice of biomedical research. However, scientists and other scholars still discuss about the nature of this change and its possible outcomes. All of this might have a consequence not only on the way science is pursued now and in the future but also on the way science is structured and perceived from an institutional perspective. As this change directly affects the connection and the mutual interplay between science and society, ethical and political issues should also be taken into account for a more adequate representation of the current image of biomedical research and its development.
Short Bio
Federico Boem, PhD, teaches Logic and Philosophy of Science at the Department of Oncology and Hemato-oncology of Università degli Studi di Milano and is a visiting lecturer in ethics and politics of science and technology at the Department of Philosophy of King’s College London. His research concerns the epistemology of biological sciences and the ethical and social implications of biomedicine.