Melanie Weilguny

Melanie Weilguny

    Member of:

    • History and Philosophy of Science

    I have a background in biology with a competence profile in cell biology and physiology from the University of Copenhagen. I took a turn towards the field of philosophy of science when doing my master's thesis on the relationship between Danish parents' attitudes towards and evidence-based knowledge of HPV vaccination.

    Current research

    In my interdisciplinary PhD projectI investigate the epistemic implications of personalized medicine, with special focus on the medical expert role of general practitioners. The project is situated within the field of Philosophy of Science in Practice, in which theoretical analyses of scientific practices are informed by empirical investigation. I draw on a mixed-method approach, integrating a quantitative survey with qualitative interviews, to examine how general practitioners perceive the compatibility of personalized medicine with existing traditions in medical practices. Moreover, I investigate how they relate to policy-makers' knowledge claims about personalized medicine, thus moving the discussions of the merits of personalized medicine into the context of concrete care practices. The results serve as the empirical background for a theoretical analysis of how personalized medicine and the medical expert role of general practitioners are shaped by one another. 

    My PhD project is a part of the research project "Philosophy of Personalized Medicine in Practice" (PROMISE) (PI: Sara Green) funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF).

    Teaching

    I teach courses on the philosophy of science for students in biology and the chemical sciences at the University of Copenhagen. 

    ID: 247672315