The Black and Brown in Bioethics network aims to expand opportunities for community engagement for people of colour both within the UK and around the world. This webinar, organised by Matimba, focused specifically on the divide – but also the similarities – between the ‘Global North’ and ‘Global South’, and aimed to identify areas of learning and convergence that should become the focus of future collaboration and development. We were delighted to be joined by Caesar Atuire (University of Ghana and University of Oxford), Sharon Kaur (University of Malaya), and Isabella Aboderin (Perivoli Africa Research Centre). We are also grateful to Rishita Nandagiri (King’s College London), who chaired the discussion.
Watch the webinar recording here:
About the Speakers
Associate Professor Caesar Atuire (he/him) is a philosopher who works on the dialogue and overlaps between African and Euro-American philosophy at the University of Ghana and the University of Oxford. His research draws on various traditions of African philosophy to address global ethical issues. He has worked on the frameworks informing the understanding of mental health in the African context, the principles surrounding research and healthcare ethics in a communitarian context, and how African conceptions of solidarity can contribute to conversations around the right to health and global health. He has also worked on models of decolonisation in global health and contributed to the conversation around Black Lives Matter and the removal of statues of racists from the public space. In short, he is a philosopher who is concerned about ethics and frameworks of equity in the generation, dissemination, and sharing of knowledge and resources in the health and healthcare spaces. Outside academic life, he leads an NGO, Amicus Onlus, that operates in healthcare, basic education, vocational skills training, and re-integration of returned illegal migrants to Europe in Ghana. Their work is mainly among rural communities and the underprivileged. This dimension informs and compliments my philosophical commitment to a more ethical world.
Professor Isabella Aboderin (she/her) is Perivoli Chair in Africa Research and Partnerships and Director of PARC. Alongside her work here, Isabella is Professor of Gerontology in Bristol’s School for Policy Studies. Isabella is also an extraordinary professor at North West University, South Africa and Associate Fellow of the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Nairobi. Among other roles, Isabella serves as regional chair for Africa of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG); as a member of the Global Commission on creating a Roadmap for Healthy Longevity; and as part of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Longevity. She is a trustee on the boards of the United Nations International Institute on Ageing (INIA) and the Population Reference Bureau (PRB).
Dr Sharon Kaur (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya, where she has designed modules on healthcare law and ethics for undergraduate as well as postgraduate students including a number of modules on the Masters of Health Research Ethics (MOHRE) at the Faculty of Medicine. Her research interests primarily revolve around medical research ethics and global health issues. She is currently working on a Wellcome funded project, Developing a Southeast Asian Bioethics Network with colleagues from Universiti Malaya, the National University of Singapore, and the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit.
Dr Rishita Nandagiri (she/her) is a Lecturer in Global Health and Social Medicine at King’s College London. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on gender, abortion and reproductive (in)justices in the Global South. Underpinned by feminist and reproductive justice approaches, her research interrogates how power and politics manifest and are wielded at individual, interpersonal, community, and macro levels. She continues to work closely with feminist collectives and advocacy groups. Rishita currently serves on the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population’s panel on Abortion Research, is an editorial advisory board member of the BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health journal, and co-runs, with Joe Strong, the Abortion Book Club (a public book club examining depictions of abortion in fiction).