What is PhilInBioMed?

PhilInBioMed is both an interdisciplinary institute located at the University of Bordeaux, France, and a national and international network of interdisciplinary institutes. PhilInBioMed aims at promoting philosophy in the biological and medical sciences, a co-production of knowledge by the direct interactions of philosophers, biologists, and medical doctors.

The mission of PhilInBioMed is to promote short-term and long-term stays of philosophers in biology and medicine labs, as well as short-term and long-term stays of biologists and MDs in philosophy labs, and, ultimately, collaborative publications by philosophers, biologists, and medical doctors.

 

Upcoming events

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News

New Philosophy of Biology section in eLIFE

  The importance of philosophy in the life sciences is becoming more and more obvious – to philosophers and scientists alike. One marker for the increased awareness is the new "Philosophy of Biology" section of eLIFE. This peer-reviewed journal targets an audience in the biomedical and life science field. The fact that they now welcome… Read more »

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Summer school: Data & Health

Big data and algorithms are profoundly transforming contemporary medicine. The program of this interdisciplinary summer school will present the genetic and bioinformatics foundations of this evolution and its philosophical, ethical, legal, sociological and psychological issues. Each session will include a conference and a workshop on a specific case. Students will actively participate in the final… Read more »

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“Fitness Meets Niche Construction and Symbiosis”, Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Kraków 2019

    The term  fitness is used very often in evolutionary biology and plays a central role in  the  theory of evolution. However,  for  decades , the status of this concept has been debated , and  many questions have been raised by  philosophers and biologists alike . What is the definition  of fitness? What does… Read more »

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Latest positions

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A question, a position to advertise?

If you have any questions, and/or if you would like to advertise an interdisciplinary position (wherever in the world), please contact us.

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Latest projects

ERC-funded project: Immunity, DEvelopment, and the Microbiota (IDEM)

6 June 2017
Biology
Medicine
Philosophy

IDEM is an ERC-funded project (2015-2020) located at the interface between philosophy of biology and biology. Hosted by the CNRS in Bordeaux, France, IDEM is conducted by Thomas Pradeu. More information about this project here.  

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The definition of the tumor microenvironment

5 June 2017
Biology
Medicine
Philosophy

The members of this interdisciplinary project attempt to propose a refined definition of the notion of tumor microenvironment, at the interface between cancer biology, developmental biology, immunology, and studies on angiogenesis. People involved: Andreas Bikfalvi (Inserm), Dorothée Duluc, Lucie Laplane (IHPST & IGR), Nicolas Larmonier, Thomas Pradeu. More information about this project here.  

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Immunity, mobility, and aging

5 June 2017
Biology
Medicine
Philosophy

Initiated by Jean-François Moreau, this project is based on the idea that mobility is central to immunity. In the transition from unicellularity to multicellularity, all cells have mostly lost their mobility – except for the immune cells. We are interested in better characterizing this link between immunity and mobility, and the way it emerged through… Read more »

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Latest publications

International Journal of Cancer: Beyond the tumour microenvironment by Laplane et al.

24 May 2019
Biology
Medicine
Philosophy

For decades cancer research had focused exclusively on the tumor. Later the vision was broadend to the tumor microenvironment (TME). Today five researchers – both philosophers and scientists – call for a look beyond the tumor microenvironment. In the minireview they show the crucial importance of the tumor organismal environment (TOE). Find the full article… Read more »

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Philosophy of Biology: The challenges of big data biology by Sabina Leonelli

9 April 2019
Biology
Philosophy

    The availability of big data has the potential to transform many areas of the life sciences and usher in new ways of doing research. Sabina Leonelli argues that big data biology also raises fundamental questions in the philosophy of science: for example, what is a good dataset, and how can reliable knowledge be… Read more »

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Philosophy of Biology: Immunology and individuality by Thomas Pradeu

8 April 2019
Biology
Medicine
News
Philosophy

  What do philosophers say about immunology, and to what extent can this be useful to immunologists? Immunology and philosophy have a rich history of dialogue. Immunologists have long been influenced by ideas from philosophy, notably the concept of 'self', and many philosophers have explored the conceptual, theoretical and methodological foundations of immunology. This article… Read more »

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