Associate Professor
Philosophy
Email:
mgolden@uoguelph.ca
Phone number:
519-824-4120 x56367
Fax:
519-837-8634
Office:
MacKinnon 334
Maya J. Goldenberg
Description
My research addresses the fundamental epistemic question, “How do we know what to believe?” (or when are knowledge claims justified) in health care.
Most of my scholarship has addressed this question in the pressing context of evidence-based medicine, the decision making framework that relies on clinical trial evidence (especially randomized controlled trials) to inform individual patient care. While evidence based medicine is the standard of best practice in health research and health care, there has been inadequate attention to the philosophical assumptions underlying this transfer of knowledge from the laboratory to the bedside. The success of this knowledge transfer has ethical implications, as patients' health and well-being are at stake.
More recently, I have broadened my research into the science-values complex to investigate vaccine hesitancy as illustrative of poor public trust in scientific institutions. My book Vaccine Hesitancy: Public Trust, Expertise, and the War on Science will be published in Spring 2021 by University of Pittsburgh Press.
Cross-appointment: Bachelor of Arts and Science (BAS) Program
Education
PhD Michigan State Univerisity
MA McGill University
BA University of Toronto
Publications
"Rethinking Debates about Pediatric Vaccine Safety: A Feminist View." Routledge Hanbook of Feminist Philosophy of Science, eds. S. Crasnow and K. Intemann. Routledge, November 2020.
“Vaccines, Values and Science.” Canadian Medical Association Journal 2019 April 8;191:E397-8. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332270789_Vaccines_values_and_science
Goldenberg, MJ and C McCron. “‘The Science is Clear!’ Media Uptake of Health Research into Vaccine Hesitancy.” In Knowing and Acting in Medicine. Ed. R. Bluhm. Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312189156_The_Science_is_Clear_Media_Uptake_of_Health_Research_into_Vaccine_Hesitancy
“Whose social values? Evaluating Canada's 'Death of Evidence' Controversy” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 45:3 (2015): 404-424.
"Public Misunderstanding of Science?" Reframing the Problem of Vaccine Hesitancy." Perspectives on Science 24:5 (2016): 552-581.
"The Placebo Orthodoxy and the Double Standard of Care in Multinational Clinical Research,” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 36:1 (2015): 7-23.
Loughlin M, Bluhm R, Fuller J, Buetow S, Upshur REG, Borgerson K, Goldenberg MJ, Kingma E. "Philosophy, Medicine, and Health Care--Where We Have Come From and Where We are Going." Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 20:6 (December 2014): 902-907.
"Diversity in Epistemic Communities: A Response to Clough." Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 3:5 (April 2014): 25-30.
"How can Feminist Theories of Evidence Assist Clinical Reasoning and Decision-Making?" Social Epistemology 2013. doi: 10.1080/02691728.2013.794871.
"Is 'Scientifically-Informed yet Humanistic Medicine' the Solution to the Crisis of Modern Medicine? A Friendly Corrective to the Emergent Model of Person-Centered Medicine." European Journal of Person-Centered Healthcare 2:1 (March 2014): 106-113.
Loughlin M, Bluhm R, Stoyanov D, Buetow S, Upshur REG, Borgerson K, Goldenberg MJ, Kingma E. "Explanation, Understanding, Objectivity, and Experience." Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 19:3 (June 2013): 415-421.
Loughlin M, Bluhm R, Buetow S, Upshur REG, Goldenberg MJ, Borgerson K, Entwistle V, Kingma E. "Reason and Value: Making Reasoning Fit for Practice." Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 18:5 (October 2012): 929-937.
"Defining 'Quality of Care' Persuasively." Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 33:4 (September 2012): 243-261.
"Evidence-Based Medicine." In Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society. Eds. WC Cockerham, R Dingwall, S Quah.Wiley-Blackwell, 2014.
"Innovating Medical Knowledge: Understanding Evidence-Based Medicine as a Socio-Medical Phenomenon". In: Evidence-Based Medicine: Closer to Patients or Scientists? Ed. Nikolaos Sitara. InTech Publications,2012.
"A Response to Sestini's (2011) Response." Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 17:5 (October 2011): 1004-1005.
Loughlin M, Bluhm R, Buetow S, Upshur REG, Goldenberg MJ, Borgerson K, Entwistle V. "Virtue, Progress, and Practice." (Editor's Introduction) Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 17:5(October 2011): 839-846.
“Working for the Cure: Challenging Pink Ribbon Activism.” In Configuring Health Consumers: Health Work and the Imperative of Personal Responsibility. Eds. R. Harris, N. Wathen, S. Wyatt. Amsterdam: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010: 140-159.
“Perspectives in Evidence-based Women’s Health.” Journal of Women’s Health 19:7 (July 2010): 1235-1238.
“From Popperian Science to Normal Science. Commentary on Sestini (2010).” Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 16:2 (2010): 306-310.
Loughlin M, Upshur REG, Goldenberg MJ, Bluhm R, Borgerson K. “Philosophy, Ethics, Medicine and Health Care: The Urgent Need for Critical Practice.” (Editors’ introduction) Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 16:2 (2010): 249-259.
“Clinical Evidence and the Absent Body in Medical Epistemology: On the Need for a New Phenomenology of Medicine.” International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, 3:1 (Spring 2010): 43-71.
“Iconoclast or Creed? Objectivism and Pragmatism in Evidence-Based Medicine’s Hierarchy of Evidence.” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 52:2 (Spring 2009): 168-187.*
Goldenberg MJ, Borgerson K, Bluhm R. “The Nature of Evidence in Evidence-Based Medicine: Guest Editors’ Introduction.” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 52:2 (Spring 2009): 164-167.
“Women’s Health.” Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Oxford University Press (2007): 441-444.
“The Problem of Exclusion in Feminist Theory and Politics: A Metaphysical Investigation into Constructing a Catogory of 'Woman'." Journal of Gender Studies 16:2(June 2007): 139-153.
Secker, Barbara, Maya J Goldenberg, et al. “Just Regionalisation: Rehabilitating Care for People with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses,” BMC Medical Ethics 7:3 (Aug 2006).
“On Evidence and Evidence Based Medicine: Lessons from the Philosophy of Science,” Social Science & Medicine 62:11 (June 2006): 2621-2632.
“Evidence Based Ethics? On Evidence Based Practice and the ‘Empirical Turn’ from Normative Bioethics,” BMC Medical Ethics 6:11 (Nov 2005).
Secker, Barbara, Frank Wagner, Maya J Goldenberg, et al.“Ethics of LHINS: Implications for People with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses.” [POLICY PAPER] Released: November 2005.
Editorial work:
Guest editor for special issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C featuring paper from the 7th International Philosophy of Medicine Roundtable meeting in Toronto, 2017
Guest editor for "Philosophy and Medicine" series for Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice:
* "Diseases, Patients, and the Epistemology of Practice" (Vol. 21, Iss. 3, Summer 2015)
* "Health Philosophy" (Vol. 20, Iss. 6, Winter 2014)
* "Explanation, Understanding, and Experience" (Vol. 19, Iss. 3, Summer 2013)
* "Reasoning in Medicine" (Vol. 18, Iss. 5, 2012)
* "Progress in Medicine" (Vol. 17, Iss. 5; Fall 2011)
* "Ethics, Epsitemiology, and Medicine (Vol. 16, Iss. 2; Spring 2010)
Guest editor for special issue of Perspectives in Biology and Medicine on Evidence-Based Medicine (Vo. 52, Iss. 2; Spring 2009).
Presentations
“A War on Science? The End of Expertise? Reframing the Problem of Vaccine” University of California Irvine Philosophy Colloquium (Co-Sponsored by Medical Humanities Series), May 2019
“Public Trust and the Scientific Consensus on Childhood Vaccines” Wilfred Laurier University Philosophy Colloquium, March 2019.
“A War on Science? The Death of Expertise? Reframing the Problem of Vaccine Hesitancy and Refusal” Intersections | Cross-sections Communications Conference, Ryerson University, March 2019.
“Public Trust and the Scientific Consensus on Childhood Vaccines.” University of Waterloo Philosophy Colloquium, March 2019.
“Public Mistrust and Health Communications on Vaccine Hesitancy and Refusal.” Education Research Community Annual Colloquium, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, February 2019.
“Teaching Uncertainty: Advancing Social Sciences and Humanities Curricula in Health Professional Education.” Fixing the Broken Links: Toward Integrating Social Sciences and Humanities and Health Professions Education, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto. December 2018.
“The Death of Expertise, the War on Science, and Poor Public Trust in Scientific Institutions.” Philosophy of Science Association. Seattle, WA, November 2018.
“Public Trust and the Scientific Consensus on Childhood Vaccines” Research, Trust and Policy Workshop, University of Helsinki, October 2018.
"A War on Science? The Death of Expertise? Reframing Vaccine Hesitancy." Public Health Ontario Grand Rounds. Toronto, September 2018.
"The Deathof Expertise? Reframing Vaccine Hesitancy as Public Mistrust of Science” 6th Annual Upshur Lecture in Public Health Ethics. University of Toronto. March 2018.
"Reframing the Problem of Vaccine Hesitancy." Distinguished Lecture Series, Committee on History and Philosophy of Science, University of Colorado at Boulder. April 2018.
"Public Trust and the Death of Expertise.” Critical Perspectives on Vaccine hesitancy Symposium. University of Toront. February 2018.
"Reframing the Problem of Vaccine Hesitancy." Ruggles Lecture in Philosophy of Medicine. June 2017, Toronto, ON.
"Trust and the Scientific Consensus on Childhood Vaccines." Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Science. May 2017, Toronto, ON.
"Reframing the Problem of Vaccine Hesitancy." Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics. May 2017, Toronto, ON.
"Vaccine Hesitancy and Public Mistrust of Scientific Institutions." Canadian Immunization Research Network Annual General Meeting. May 2017, Halifax, NS..
"Trust, Credibility and the Scientific Consensus on Childhood Vaccines." Michigan State Univesity Philosophy Speaker Series, February 2017, E. Lansing, MI.
"You Can't Change an Anti-Vaxxer's Mind: Cognitive DIssonance, Cultrual Cognition, and Conspiracy Theories." University of Texas at Dallas Center for Values in Medicine, Science and Technology, April 2016, Dallas, TX.
"Public Resistance to Science." National Judicial Institute: Science in the Courtroom, February 2016, Montreal, PQ.
"A Primer on Philosophy of Science." National Judicial Institute: Science in the Courtroom, February 2016, Montreal, PQ.
"The Maverick as Scientific Hero: On the Making of Andrew Wakefield's Expertise in the Vaccine-Safety Debate." FEMMS Feminist Epistemologies, Methodologies, Metaphysics and Science Studies. August 2014, Waterloo, ON.
"Subject? Object? Patient? Complex Biological Machine? The Phenomenology of Person and the Person-Centered Approach to Healthcare." European Society for Person Centered Healthcare. July 2014, Madrid, Spain.
"Philosophy of Science Meets Evidence-Based Medicine.” (Panel: Statistical Education of Scientists in Light of Philosophy of Science) Canadian Statistical Society. May 2014, Toronto, ON.
Commentator on Stathis Psillos' "Evidence Wanted: Dead or Alive." Institute of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology - Situating Science Joint Colloquium, April 2014, Toronto ON.
"The Fearful Public and Vaccine Hesitancy: A Challenge for Physicians." University of Toronto Medical School History and Philosophy of Healthcare Interest Group, February 2014, Toronto, ON.
"Vaccine Hesitancy and Public Misunderstanding of Science." Science in Public: Communication, Contestation and Credibility - Science and Technology Studies (STS) Workshop, March 2014, St. Thomas University, New Brunswick, NB.
"The Placebo Orthodoxy and the Double Standard of Care in Multinational Clinical Trials." Philosophy of Medicine Roundtable, November 2013, New York, NY.
"Epistemic Trust and Vaccine Hesitancy." Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto Colloqium Series, September 2013, Toronto, ON.
"Public Misunderstanding of Science? Reframing the Problem of Vaccine Hesitancy." Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice, June 2013, Toronto, ON.
"Heroes and Scoundrels: Trust and Blame in the Vaccine-Autism Scandal." Arts, Science and Techology Research Alliance Speaker Series, Univeristy of Guelph, March 2013
"The MMR Vaccine Scandal and Trust in Science." GTA Symposium on History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science, Technology, and Medicine May 2011, Guelph, ON.
“Reclaiming Evidence in Feminist Science Studies: A Revised View.” XIV International Association of Women Philosophers (IAPh) Symposium: Feminism, Science and Values, June 2010, London, ON.
“Ethics and the Evidence of Evidence-Based Medicine.” Specialist Seminar in Empirical Ethics. Department of Humanities, University of Tilburg, December 2010, Tilburg, Netherlands.
“Responsibility and Pink Ribbon Activism” Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy. October 2009, Guelph, ON.
“FAB (Feminist Approaches to Bioethics) Panel: Gender, Feminism and Evidence.” Canadian Society for Bioethics, June 2009, Hamilton, ON.
“Resituating Evidence in Feminist Science Studies.” Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice. University of Minnesota, June 2009, Minneapolis, MN.
“Evidence and Governance in Women’s Healthcare.” University of Warwick Women’s Health Workshop Series, May 2009, Coventry, UK.
“Campaigning for the Cure: Women’s Health and the Ethics of Pink Ribbon Activism.” Working to Be Healthy: Negotiating Health Information and Technology in a Consumerist Age, May 2009, London, ON.
“Clinical Evidence and the Absent Body in Medical Epistemology.” Canadian Philosophical Association, June 2008, Vancouver, BC.
“Advancing an Ethics of Evidence for Biomedical Ethics.” Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics, June 2008, Vancouver, BC.
“Rehabilitating the Evidence in Evidence-Based Medicine: A Davidsonian Account of Evidence.” Philosophy of Medicine Roundtable, March 2008, Birmingham, AL
“Closing Remarks.” Critical Debates in Evidence-Based Medicine: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going, November 2008, Toronto, ON.
“Clinical Evidence and the Absent Body in Medical Epistemology.” Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy, October 2008,Windsor, ON.
“Clinical Evidence and the Absent Body” Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, September 2008, Rijeka, Croatia.
“Challenging the Hierarchy of Medicine in Evidence Based Medicine.” Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice, 1st Biennial Conference, August 2007, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands.
“Theorizing Within/Against Health.” National Women’s Studies Association, July 2007, St. Charles, IL.
Funding
2017 (Co-Investigator) CIHR Project Grant: "Public Deliberation on Vaccine Hesitancy."
2017 (Co-Investigator) SSHRC Insight Development Grant: "Across the Great Divide: Challenging the Qualitative-Quantitative Paradigmatic Gap" (2 years)
2009 SSHRC General Research Grant
2008 Canadian Institutes of Health Research Meeting, Planning and Dissemination Grant
2008 Connaught Award,
2008 SSHRC Strategic Knowledge Cluster Grant "Situating Science: Cluster for the Humanist and Social Studies of Science”
2007 Canadian Institutes for Health Research - Ontario Women’s Health Council/Institute for Gender and Health Postdoctoral Fellowship
2007 Post-Doctoral Funding Grant, Program in Healthcare, Technology, and Place/CIHR Strategic Initiative, University of Toronto