PhD Candidate Day - (R)Evolution in Science

The theme of this PhD Day is (R)Evolution in Science. The four invited speakers all have in common a revolutionary vision on the future of medicine and/or science in general. From the disruption of the modern system of clinical trials and science in general to the potential role of artificial intelligence in modern research/society. There will also be two sessions of inspiring workshops between the plenary sessions, which include personal skill development and a variety of interesting topics.

Step out of the comfort of your own scientific niche and get inspired to join our revolution in science!

Plenary 1 – Adam Cohen - Fossilisation of the multicentre clinical trial. A search for new species.

Prof. dr. Adam Cohen, Director of CHDR InnoS. - ac@chdr.nl
He is professor of Clinical Pharmacology at Leiden University and has a clinical attachment at the department of nephrology at Leiden University Medical Centre. He is author of more than two hundred publications about a wide range of clinical pharmacological subjects. He is executive editor of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. From 1987 to 2018 he was CEO of CHDR and from 2018 he is Director of CHDR InnoS.

The idea to determine whether a certain treatment/action in medicine works by clinical research is not very old. There are fine historical examples, but the clinical trial actually dates from after the second world war. Determining that aspirin is useful as acute treatment of myocardial infarction cost around one million euro in 1990. Similar trials in 2018 are in the direction of a billion. When the dinosaurs roamed the earth, they also thought they would get bigger… Of course something is going to happen, but what? Extinction of the trial is not an option, but new animal species are needed!

Plenary 2- Frank Huisman - Science in Transition: on the systemic flaws in science - and how to remedy them
Prof. PhD. Frank Huisman – Proffesor in the history of Medicine - f​.​huisman​@​​maastricht​university​.​nl
He teaches in the History Department of Maastricht University and at the University Medical Center Utrecht. He is the author of Stadsbelang en standsbesef. Gezondheidszorg en medisch beroep in Groningen, 1500-1730 and co-editor, with Catrien Santing, of Medische geschiedenis in regionaal perspectief: Groningen, 1500-1900, both local case studies of early modern Dutch health care. He co-edited, with John Harley Warner, Locating Medical History. The Stories and Their Meanings (Johns Hopkins UP). He has published on medical historiography, quackery, and the cultural authority of medicine. Currently, he is working on a book exploring the transformation of the Dutch health care system between 1880 and 1940. He is a Board member of the Dutch science society (Gewina) and President of the European Association for the History of Medicine and Health (EAHMH).

Science has become a self-referential system where quality is measured mostly in bibliometric parameters and where societal relevance is undervalued. Therefore, it is in need of fundamental reform. In 2013, the initiators of Science in Transition have caused a debate among researchers and policy makers in The Netherlands which is still going on. Because the system is complex and the challenges are daunting, change can only happen gradually. This presentation will analyze the (problems of the) system, and suggest some changes and reforms.

Plenary 3 – Olaf Dekkers – What randomized trials do (not) tell us
Prof. Dr Olaf Dekkers – Internist and clinical epidemiologist - o.m.dekkers@lumc.nl
Olaf Dekkers is postdoctoral researcher at the departments of Clinical Epidemiology and Endocrinology. He is adjunct professor at the department of Clinical Epidemiology at Aarhus University (Denmark). He studied medicine philosophy and graduated (MA) on the ‘truth definition according to Frege’. He was trained in epidemiology (MSc) at the London Scholl of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Research topics are epidemiology of endocrine diseases, meta-analysis and methodology of research. He works in close collaboration with the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Bern (Switzerland) on and with the department of Clinical Epidemiology in Aarhus (Denmark). He is methodological chair of the guideline committee of the European Society of Endocrinology.

Randomized trials are generally considered to provide the highest level of evidence. The main reason is that randomization prevents from confounding by indication. Although true, we discuss in this lecture why the interpretation and translation from randomized data to clinical practice is not always simple. And maybe trials leave open even more questions than they can answer.

Plenary 4 – Jim Stolze
Jim Stolze is a tech-entrepreneur and a prominent figure in the European startup scene.

In 2009 he was approached by TED.com to become one of their twelve ambassadors worldwide. Between then and 2016 he was the driving force behind TEDxAmsterdam and many other TEDx events in Europe, the Middle East and even the Caribbean.

An alumnus from the prestigious Singularity University (California) Jim Stolze is a thoughtleader and changemaker in the field of exponential technologies.

Since 2017 he focuses on Artificial Intelligence (AI). With his platform Aigency Jim Stolze connect algorithms from PHD’s and startups to data-sets and challenges from big corporates. This initiatieve was labeled by the media as “the world’s first employment agency for artificial intelligence”.

LUMC

Participation is free of charge and only for the PhD candidates of the LUMC

Please note: Participation is free, but that does not mean that the organisation of this PhD day costs nothing, so if you subscribe, please make sure you keep this day blocked in your agenda.
The lunch is free of charge, so if you say yes I will join lunch, please know that we are counting on you and that we prefer not to waist food.