What we do
Questions of law, ethics and society are central to the development of public health research and practice.
The Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) theme draws on work in the social sciences, law and philosophy across the University of Cambridge, and related institutes, to generate new opportunities for dialogue, collaboration and research.
Our areas of activity include:
- Addressing challenges of justice and fairness associated with public health medicine and science
- The delivery of public health programmes for all stages of life and regions of the planet
- The role of international law and models of research and development in supporting public health innovation
- The relationship between population and personalised health
- The experience, consequences and communication of working with risk and uncertainty
We welcome researchers from any relevant discipline, including law, philosophy, social science, education, psychology, sociology, history, political science, public policy studies, and science, technology and society.
Key publications
- Milne, R. and Patch, C. (2022) “Ethical challenges associated with pathogen and host genetics in infectious disease” The New Bioethics
- Milne, R., Sheehan M, Barnes B, Kapper J, Lea N, N’dow J, Singh G, Martín-Uranga A, Hughes N (2022) “A concentric circles view of health data relations facilitates understanding of sociotechnical challenges for learning health systems and the role of federated data networks” Frontiers in Big Data
- Bunnik, E., Smedinga, M., Milne, R., Georges, J., Richard, E., and Schermer, M. (2022) “Ethical frameworks for disclosure of Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers to research participants: How to resolve conflicting norms?” Ethics & Human Research
- Graham, M., Milne, R., Fitzsimmons, P. and Sheehan, M. (2022) “Trust and the Goldacre Review: Why Trusted Research Environments are Not About Trust” Journal of Medical Ethics
