Jeanette Bresson Ladegaard Knox

Jeanette Bresson Ladegaard Knox

Associate Professor

Primary fields of research

Medical Ethics, in particular clinical ethics (ethical questions in a hospital setting)

Medical Humanities, in particular developing a humanistic, philosophical and aesthetic approach to medicine

Narrative Medicine, Personalized Medicine, Translational medicine

Conceptual areas of interest:

Death, mortality, the self, being, time, hope, vulnerability, creativity, intersubjectivity, the art of living and dialogue.

Overall, my work examines the possible contribution of the humanities in the field of health with the desire to develop the field of health and medical humanities. I am particularly interested in and work especially with existential phenomenology and hermeneutics, philosophy of existence and dialogue, moral and value theories, ancient philosophy and stoicism. Committed to arguing both theoretically and empirically, I participate in research interventions that study the beneficial impact of philosophy and the arts on well-being and self-care after illness and/or trauma. The goal is to develop ways in which research and practice mutually can feed into each other and to support a holistic patient understanding.

Current research

Research project Personalized Medicine in the Welfare State (MeInWe). September 2017-March 2022. Carlsberg's Semper Aude grant to Professor, PI Mette Nordahl Svendsen. Research and Ethics Lab Coordinator in the project. One of my primary tasks is to develop the methodology behind an ethical, investigatory forum for representatives from health and social science, clinical practice and research, public and private organizations in the health care sector, as well as to theoretically develop support for the experimental reflection and to execute the labs. See link: http://meinwe.ku.dk

Project collaboration with professor, MD and PhD Rita Charon at the Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics (The Narrative Medicine Program), the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City, USA. My task is to develop a training program in Socratic dialogue facilitation to be implemented among doctors and health care professionals at the Presbytarian Hospital, New York City. The aim is to create a forum for philosophizing on important ethical themes for medical practice, for example burn-out and moral injury. Funded by Columbia University. Paused temporally due to the COVID-pandemic.

Face2Face: A practice-oriented pilot project that investigates whether the arts (drama and paintings/museum visits) can give children with cerebral palsy greater self-acceptance and resilience. In collaboration with actor Lotte Arnsbjerg and Elsass Fonden. 

ID: 35362427