Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine

09/09/2026

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: "𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀"

Affiliate Researcher Diego Borbón has co-authored with colleagues from Chile, Spain, Argentina, the US, and the UK, a new Comment in Nature Human Behaviour on pay-for-biometrics models, which offer financial compensation in exchange for iris scans and other biometric identifiers:

The Comment starts from three recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Chile ordering the deletion of a minor's iris data, the 2024 precautionary measure of the Spanish Data Protection Agency, and the corrective measures required by the Bavarian data protection authority under the GDPR. Several of the authors took part in the Chilean case with amicus curiae briefs or as members of the legal team representing the claimant by Fundación Kamanau and Colombara Estrategia Legal. Building on those decisions, the article examines whether consent can remain free and informed when money is on the table, why irreversible data demand safeguards that mass collection in public spaces rarely provides, and what questions regulators face regarding commercialization, corporate concentration of biometric data and the rise of private global identification systems. A final section addresses the heightened protection owed to children and adolescents.

Paying people for their biometrics raises complex ethical and legal questions about consent, privacy and the long-term risks of handing over irrevocable personal data. This Comment examines why such models require caution and what safeguards could better protect the public.

08/09/2026

Last week, 𝗗𝗜𝗣𝗘𝘅.𝗰𝗵 had the opportunity to be part of the symposium “Education Initiative on Unconscious Bias in Healthcare” in Bern, organised by Unisanté, Swiss TPH and ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften.

Through the 𝗗𝗜𝗣𝗘𝘅.𝗰𝗵 platform, we shared patients’ lived experiences and perspectives, highlighting how unconscious bias can shape experiences of healthcare and influence interactions between patients and healthcare professionals.

As part of the symposium, Corine Mouton Dorey and Dirkje Swennen led a DIPEx.ch workshop:

"Hidden Bias, Real Impact : Understanding Unconscious Bias from the Patient Perspective" using a World Café format. Together with participants, we explored unconscious bias from four different perspectives:

- The patient perspective
- The healthcare professional perspective
- The healthcare system perspective
- The education perspective

The workshop was developed in collaboration with Andrea Glaessel of ZHAW/IBME and the DHDLL

The discussions highlighted the importance of bringing patients’ voices and lived experiences into conversations about unconscious bias and of considering how we can address these biases not only in clinical practice, but also at the level of healthcare systems and education.

A big thank you to the organizers and to everyone who joined our workshop and shared their thoughts, experiences and insights.

04/09/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮?

📢 New in Health Policy and Technology: Rasita Vinay, Leonie Staub and Tobias Kowatsch interviewed 23 healthcare experts, care professionals, and insurance sector experts about GRACE (an embodied voice assistant for people with early dementia), and what it would take to reimburse it.

🎙️Stakeholders anticipated real value — companionship, cognitive activation, orientation, daily structure, relief for caregivers. But they expected the two care settings to need different product designs and different funding logics, and they named financing, not acceptance, as the dominant barrier.

💰The paper proposes an exploratory pathway: equitably safeguarded out-of-pocket deployment in home care, moving toward supplementary, hybrid and potentially basic insurance as evidence accumulates.

Technologies for dementia care don't scale on evidence alone. They scale when someone is willing to pay for them.

📄 “Stakeholder-perceived value and reimbursement pathways for a voice assistant in dementia care: evidence from Switzerland” available here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt.2026.101305

02/09/2026

𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗵𝗿–𝗕𝗼𝗹𝗱𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗕𝗠𝗘

The IBME is pleased to welcome four Stehr–Boldt Fellows, joining the institute between September 2026 and February 2027: Leticia Correa, Federico Giovannini, Mojtaba Kiaei, and Gamze Kaya.

Letícia Corrêa (Brazil) will research the ethics of palliative care, titled "Empathic Communication as a Pathway to Human Dignity in End-of-Life Care." A lawyer specialising in medical law and public health, she advises patients and families facing serious illness and advance care planning. She is pursuing a PhD in bioethics at the Universidade de Brasília under Professor Aline Albuquerque, herself a visiting researcher at the IBME in 2010. Her IBME research will be supervised by Anna Elsner and Roberto Andorno.

Federico Giovannini (Italy) will research the ethics of data-driven decision-making in healthcare, titled "Embedding Ethical Reasoning into Data-Driven Decision Support for Healthcare Policy and Management: A Normative and Applied Framework." He holds a BSc and MSc in Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology from the University of Trento (Cancer Biology, thesis grade 110/110 cm laude) and is pursuing an Advanced Master in Bioethics at KU Leuven. He is also a professional harpist and has contributed to interdisciplinary projects on research misconduct (Euregio MiSH) and RNA-based therapies for neurodegenerative disease. His IBME research will be supervised by Federico Germani.

Gamze Kaya (Turkey) will research the ethics of health data governance, titled "Reimagining Ethical Governance in Big Health Data: Developing a Trust-Based Framework for Emerging Technologies." She holds an MSc in Bioethics from Acıbadem Üniversitesi (full scholarship; thesis on FAIR principles and a federated, blockchain-based system for health data governance) and a BSc in Philosophy from Hacettepe Üniversitesi. She has worked as a research and teaching assistant at Acıbadem, including digitising Ottoman Turkish medical periodicals, and has published on environmental ethics and the history of medicine. She is particularly interested in engaging with Nikola Biller-Andorno's work on ethical governance during her stay.

Dr. Mojtaba Kiaei Kiaei (Iran) will research citizen participation in digital health governance, titled "Comparative Analysis of Citizen Participation in Digital Health Policy-Making: Case Studies from Switzerland and the Nordic Countries." A public policy scholar, his research focuses on citizen engagement, institutional trust, and governance of complex public systems, examining how institutions interact with citizens and how participation shapes legitimacy. He is Assistant Professor of Public Administration at Islamic Azad University, where he has supervised more than 150 Master's and PhD theses and formerly headed the Public Administration Department. He is now applying these insights to digital health governance and its ethical foundations.

25/08/2026

New publication: Why ecological integrity belongs at the heart of European health policy

In a new commentary in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, Prof. Nikola Biller-Andorno (IBME), together with Migle Laukyte and Barbara Prainsack, argue that European health policy is missing a crucial foundation: the integrity of the ecological systems health ultimately depends on.

Read the full open-access article here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2026.101833

18/08/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲?

We're pleased to share a new Opinion by the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE), co-authored by Prof. Nikola Biller-Andorno: "Valuing Nature: Implications for EU Governance".

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁:

How we conceptualize and value nature directly shapes which ecological harms are treated as acceptable, which protections are deemed necessary, and which trade-offs are considered justified in policymaking. This isn't an abstract debate — it has concrete consequences for EU law and policy.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁:

Amid geopolitical tension, economic pressure, and industrial competition, the EGE warns against treating ecological sustainability as a secondary concern. On the contrary: it's a precondition for resilience, prosperity, health, security, and democratic legitimacy — not something to be deprioritised when times get tough.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲:

Human societies are embedded within ecological systems, not external to them. Nature can't simply be treated as a substitutable resource or service provider. The Opinion calls for recognising multiple, complementary ways of valuing nature — economic, but also legal, ethical, and cultural.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:

🔹 Strengthen legal and institutional representation of ecological concerns — including for non-human nature

🔹 Use economic valuation tools only within clear ethical boundaries

🔹 Establish a legally binding right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment in the EU

🔹 Ensure meaningful public participation and coherence between the EU's internal commitments and external action

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿:

The Opinion addresses EU policymakers, but is equally relevant to anyone interested in how environmental protection, economic development, and intergenerational justice can be brought together.

Published under the Ethics Advice Mechanism (EThAM), which provides independent ethical guidance to the European Commission at the intersection of science, technology, and policy.

📄 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻: https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/document/download/e5ac41ab-ac00-41dc-bda6-1a8857012019_en

Azure WAF JS Challenge

04/08/2026

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: "𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱: 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻"

Affiliate Researcher and Former Stehr-Boldt Fellow Diego Borbón, has published a new fully open access article in the Revista de Bioética y Derecho ( de Bioètica i Dret, Universitat de Barcelona):

Surrogacy sits at the intersection of three competing bases for legal parentage: consent, genetics, and gestation. The article examines a decision of a Bogotá Family Court in which the judge, relying on Colombia's parto (birth) rule, recognised the gestational woman as the legal mother despite her pre-implantation consent to act as a surrogate and the absence of any genetic link, effectively converting a consensual arrangement into unwanted legal motherhood with legal consequences in terms of custody, alimony, maintenance, child support, inheritance law, child protection, civil liability, and criminal law. Alongside two further Colombian decisions, including Constitutional Court ruling T-232/24 on the risk of statelessness in cross-border surrogacy, the authors map the justice gap generated by the country's regulatory vacuum and analyse it through a principlist bioethics lens, enriched by child rights instruments and Latin American feminist bioethics. A comparative section contrasts intent-based parentage models in parts of the United States with prohibitionist or tightly regulated altruistic frameworks in Europe. The contribution seeks to clarify where doctrine, clinical realities, and administrative practice collide, and articulates the core questions any future surrogacy regulatory framework will have to answer.

04/08/2026

📖 Neu erschienen | 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝘂̈𝗰𝗸𝗲 𝘇𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗵𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗲𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘂𝗻𝗴

Wie verändert sich die Ausbildung von Gesundheitsfachpersonen, wenn Patient:innen nicht nur Gegenstand der Versorgung sind, sondern aktiv als Wissenspartner:innen und Co-Lehrende einbezogen werden?

Dieser Frage widmet sich unser neues Buchkapitel

"𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀: 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀", erschienen in 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀: 𝗔 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 (Springer, 2026).

Im Mittelpunkt stehen 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗵𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻 aus 𝗗𝗜𝗣𝗘𝘅 – 𝗵𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 (𝗛𝗘𝗫𝗜), ergänzt durch 𝗘𝗫-𝗜𝗡, die Zusammenarbeit mit unserem Mitautor und Patientenvertreter Frank Clasemann sowie reflexionsbasierte Lehrformate. Gemeinsam zeigen wir, wie narrative Erfahrungen Perspektivenwechsel, Empathie, Kommunikation, Shared Decision Making und personenzentriertes Handeln in der Ausbildung von Gesundheitsberufen und Medizinstudierenden fördern.

Unsere zentrale Botschaft: 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁:𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁:𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗵𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻. Werden ihre Stimmen systematisch in Lehre und interprofessionelle Zusammenarbeit einbezogen, entstehen Lernräume, die professionelles Handeln nachhaltig bereichern.

Herzlichen Dank an meine Mitautor:innen Dr. Katrin Kunze und Frank Clasemann für die inspirierende Zusammenarbeit.

The objective of healthcare is to meet the needs of patients and their families through everyday practice, research, and education. Incorporating the individual experiences of those affected is crucial, as it stimulates reflection among health professionals (HPs) and...

31/07/2026

Nikola Biller-Andorno discusses prediction markets in clinical research on BBC World Service

In an interview for the BBC World Service programme Health Check, Professor Nikola Biller-Andorno discusses the ethical implications of new prediction markets that allow people to trade on clinical-trial outcomes and decisions by the US Food and Drug Administration.

The interview considers whether such markets could provide useful public forecasts, but also examines risks involving conflicts of interest, non-public information, patient expectations, research funding and public trust. It asks a broader question: should uncertainty in clinical research become another opportunity for financial speculation?

The interview was first broadcast on 29 July 2026.

Listen to Health Check on BBC World Service:

Health issues and medical breakthroughs from around the world.

28/07/2026

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: «𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁: 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀' 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀.»

In this newly published qualitative systematic review, Fayez Abdulrazeq, Chris Gastmans, Nikola Biller-Andorno, and Julian März examine the ethical challenges and moral stressors experienced by healthcare providers when caring for undocumented migrants. Synthesizing findings from 37 qualitative studies, the review shows that providers’ ethical challenges are not only individual clinical dilemmas, but are often structurally generated by restrictive policies, institutional constraints, and resource limitations. The paper highlights the concept of ethical burden-shifting, showing how the moral and practical consequences of exclusionary systems are transferred to healthcare providers and undocumented migrants at the point of care.

Healthcare providers play a critical role in delivering care to undocumented migrants, who face systemic barriers to healthcare access. While research has documented undocumented migrants’ legal an...