Vito Balorda

I am a philosopher working primarily in the philosophy of science, biology, and medicine with further interests in metaphysics, epistemology, and metaphilosophy. I hold the Croatian academic title of Adjunct Assistant Professor (in Croatian: naslovni docent).

My research focuses on causation in biology and medicine, particularly on how understanding causal structures and processes supports explanation and guides intervention. I examine causal structures such as mechanisms, pathways, cascades, and feedback loops, and their roles in explaining biological and medical phenomena and informing medical interventions. My recent works focuses on the role of these structures in cancer research. Another strand of my research concerns the role of philosophers in science communication. In particular, I argue that philosophers of science bear remedial responsibilities for helping to restore warranted public trust in science.

In 2026, I held a temporary replacement position of an Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy,  Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka. I was teaching courses related to the philosophy of science. 

In 2024-2025, I held a postdoc and senior assistant position at the Department of Philosophy,  Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka. This position was funded by the Croatian Science Foundation.

In 2024, I completed my PhD thesis titled "The Causal Explanation in Molecular Biology" at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka. This PhD project was funded by the Croatian Science Foundation.

For the academic year 2025/2026, I was the EPSA (European Philosophy of Science Association) postdoc research fellow at the University of Louvain (Belgium), under the supervision of Prof. Charles Pence. Previously, during academic year 2022/2023, I was a doctoral research fellow at the Wirth Institute, University of Alberta (Canada). Additionally, I was a visiting scholar at the University of Padua (Italy) in 2021, and a visiting researcher at the Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics at the Ruđer Bošković Institute (Zagreb, Croatia) in 2019.  

In 2023, I received the Rector's Award for Excellent Achievement from the University of Rijeka. 

I have published in international peer-reviewed Q1 journals, such as European Journal for Philosophy of Science and Journal for General Philosophy of Science. I have an accepted-for-publication paper in Philosophy of Science (Q1, CUP). I have also served as a reviewer for journals such as Biological Theory, Journal for General Philosophy of Science, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, and Prolegomena.

I delivered talks at numerous international conferences, among others, at the Universities of California (Berkeley), Alberta, Bordeaux, Berlin, Geneva, Glasgow, Oslo, Groningen, Madrid, and Porto.

For more information, see sections: publications, talks, fellowships & awards, teaching, outreach, and CV. 

Additionally, details about my activities outside academia can be found in the non-academic section. 

For any inquiries, please feel free to contact me via e-mail: vito.balorda@gmail.com; vito.balorda@uniri.hr