Registration Open: What is so Special about Cancer? Perspectives from Clinical Research, Philosophy and Social Sciences
Two-Day Conference 5 April 2018, 13:30 - 6 April 2018, 17:15 SG1/2 Alison Richard Building, Sidgwick Site, University of Cambridge Speakers: Karl Claxton (University of York), Peter Gøtzsche (Nordic Cochrane Centre), Shelley Hwang (Duke University), Stephen John (University of Cambridge), Christopher McCabe (Institute for Health Economics), Christian Munthe (University of Gothenburg), Mark Sheehan (University of Oxford), and Carla Willig (City, University of London). Attendance is free, but registration is required because places are limited. For programme and registration, please go to: http://www.crassh.cam.ac.u k/events/27611 Conference organisers: Gabriele Badano (gb...@cam.ac.uk) and Joseph Wu ( jw...@cam.ac.uk). For administrative enquiries please contact Michelle Maciejewska ( mm...@cam.ac.uk). Cancer is accorded a special status in public debates, policy, clinical research and clinical practice. Relative to disease burden, cancer research receives a disproportionately high amount of funding compared to other diseases. In addition, some healthcare systems preferentially fund treatments for cancer. The Cancer Drugs Fund under the NHS, for example, created a funding mechanism dedicated solely to cancer drugs, which are treated more favourably when there are gaps in the evidence base supporting their cost-effectiveness. Meanwhile, the desire to detect cancer earlier via screening remains highly controversial—both in terms of its overall effectiveness and in terms of the best way to treat low-risk cancers. Such issues consistently place cancer under public scrutiny, creating dominant discourses that shape the very experience of the disease within one’s culture. This conference brings together perspectives from clinical research, medical practice, philosophy, health economics and psychology to explore what makes cancer so special. Is the current amount of funding for cancer research and treatment justifiable? Are existing arrangements consistent with public perceptions of cancer, and what can the lived experience of actual patients, carers and clinicians teach us? Where is cancer research, treatment and policy going? This conference provides an opportunity to examine whether the special status of cancer is justifiable, and to explore the implications for the future of medicine. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Independent Social Research Foundation. This will be the third of three events on philosophical and social issues around cancer to be held in Cambridge during 2017-2018. A workshop on the ethics and epistemology of early detection of cancer, organised by Stephen John and Joseph Wu, took place on 13th December at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. Another event, organised by Gianmarco Contino and still focused on early detection, will take place on 15th March, at the VHI, St Edmund's College (for registration, go to: https://www.vhi.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/research/current-pr ojects/cruk-vhi-workshop-2018). If you are interested in these themes, please be in touch! _____________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the CamPhilEvents mailing list, or change your membership options, please visit the list information page: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEvents List archive: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEventsArchive Please note that CamPhilEvents doesn't accept email attachments. See the list information page for further details and suggested alternatives.
