As of October 15, 2024, Prof. Maartje Schermer will hold the chair 'Health Ethics in a Technological Society (Digital Health Ethics)'. The chair is embedded in the Law & Health Care section and focuses on ethical issues related to technological developments in healthcare, such as digitalisation, robotisation and artificial intelligence.
Digital developments are radically changing healthcare, which has a major impact on the roles and relationships between doctors and patients and raises ethical issues. An important task for the KNMG is to ensure that doctors can continue to practice their profession properly in the future.
Prof. Maartje Schermer brings a wealth of expertise and experience to her new role. Her research focuses on ethical and philosophical issues in medical research, practice, and policy. Central themes in her work include changing views on health and disease due to new medical technologies, the desirability of early disease detection without available treatment, the use of digital technologies in healthcare and a fair distribution of expensive treatments.
In her current position at Erasmus MC, Prof. Schermer has proven herself as a leading thinker in the field of bioethics, the ethics of new medical technology, and the philosophy of medicine. In addition, she actively contributes to the public discussion about the ethical implications of new and emerging medical technologies.
The chair will be established at ESHPM, in close collaboration with the Erasmus MC and the Erasmus School of Philosophy (ESPhil). There will be close collaboration with the recently established KNMG chair in Law, Healthcare Technology and Medicine at Amsterdam UMC.
Dean Maarten IJzerman: ‘I think it is great news that Maartje Schermer has been appointed to a new chair for ESHPM in the Law & Health Care section. This chair strengthens our (ethics) education and is an important link in research into digital healthcare and the use of artificial intelligence, such as in our investment theme “Sustainable Workforce” and research in the Convergence Alliance. The collaboration with KNMG, ESPhil and Erasmus MC means that it can be developed even more strongly together.’