A Research Agenda for Biomedicine and Society

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary.

This forward-thinking Research Agenda explores the increasingly prevalent role that biomedical technologies are playing in healthcare and everyday life. Leading global experts from across sociology, anthropology, political science, science and technology studies, socio-linguistics and law investigate how society and biomedical technologies interact and how scientific innovations can be shaped for public benefit.

Bringing together theory, methodological innovation, and empirical observations from many parts of the world, contributors provide a roadmap for future scholarship. Chapters examine contemporary developments in healthcare and how they challenge embedded practices and organisational forms, taking into consideration theoretical perspectives such as inequalities, feminist values, open innovation, healthcare readiness and bio-citizenship. The Research Agenda also tackles societal and ethical aspects of biomedical innovations including: new forms of patient groups; widening pharmaceutical industry participation; therapeutic safety regulation; vaccine side-effect data; digital mental health; health climate consequences; expansion of genomic testing; cancer cell therapy; psychedelics; and antimicrobial resistance.

Students and scholars alike will benefit from this essential guide to future research in the multiple disciplines of biomedical social science and healthcare policy.