Hello!

My name is Helene. I am a philosopher of medicine and science.

My research centres on questions in the epistemology of medical practice, the medical body, and on messy and unruly elements of enquiry. As part of my work, I conduct ethnographic fieldwork with medical practitioners and students, and I typically develop my thoughts in interdisciplinary settings between philosophy, science, and art/culture.

I hold a PhD from Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen. In my thesis I explored the role of aversive emotions in clinical enquiry and developed a methodology for the integration of ethnographic fieldwork in philosophical thought. Currently, I am undertaking a project on the role of diagnostic categories in clinical enquiry as a Research Fellow at Clare Hall and a postdoc at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge. The project is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation.

When I am not reading, writing, or doing fieldwork, you might find me in museums, bakeries, wineries, hiking in the wild, or exploring city streets – feeding my body with all the sensuousness of the world that a desk does not offer.

I am always happy to hear from potential collaborators or curious colleagues, so please do reach out.

Recent and upcoming talks

13 March 2024
Topic: Inferring from Negative Analogies: Lessons on analogical reasoning from clinical medical practice
Occasion: Cambridge Philosophy of Science Seminars.
@ University of Cambridge, UK

9-12 July 2024
Topic: Reasoning at the fringe of meaning: Mary Hesse, analogies, and the dynamics of unframed enquiry
Occasion: Symposium, HOPOS.
@ University of Vienna, AT

9-10 May 2024
Topic: Classification systems as models
Occasion: 11th International Philosophy of Medicine Roundtable.
@ Online. Durham-Johannesburg Centre for Phil. of Epidemiology, Medicine, and Public Health

4-7 September 2024
Topic: Ecological niches and environmental exchange in styles of thinking and doing science studies
Occasion: Symposium, ESHS.
@ University of Barcelona, ES