Michael Osborne
dates de séjour
projet de recherche
projet de recherche
Biochemistry and biophysics, allegiance to a physiological determinism derived from Claude Bernard’s work on experimental medicine, and laboratory methods applied to animal models have advanced knowledge of human physiology. These tools have been productive in virtue of their ability to isolate and explain phenomena such as the glycogenic function of the liver. Another approach, one rather common among physicians in Provence around 1890, ran counter to this reductionistic paradigm and promoted a vitalistic physiology which attempted to account for the social and spiritual life of human organisms. The approach evaluated how life in the human community affected individual physiology and well-being. In this it was similar to the emergent science of epigenetics in elucidating social and environmental factors impacting inheritance and well-being. I will use this residency to draft a book informed by the newer science of epigenetics, convene a one-day conference on this topic, and prepare the revised papers for publication.
biographie
Osborne discovered the history of science as an undergraduate at Oregon State University, where he benefited from charismatic and intellectually demanding professors. Before becoming a professor he worked for a number of government and private agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Fellowships or grants from the National Science Foundation, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Camargo Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and other agencies have supported his research and that of his graduate students. Before returning to OSU he was professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he continues as Research Professor of Environmental Studies and History and bioethics leader for human embryonic stem cell research. He is currently completing a book under contract with the University of Chicago Press titled The Emergence of Tropical Medicine in France.
