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“Systems Biology Meets Bowen Family Systems Theory: Implications and Likely Outcomes” – Michael Kerr, M.D.
Learning Objectives:
- Discuss how systems biology facilitates Bowen theory’s progress toward a solid link to the natural sciences.
- Explain the parallels between what systems biologists describe and what Bowen theory describes.
- Describe the implications and likely outcomes of linking the human emotional system to the development of cancer and other physical, emotional, and social symptoms.
- Discuss the importance of understanding that a family system is yet another level of biological organization, permitting a broader perspective on the human condition.
- Explain how a broader perspective (emotional neutrality) plus action has implications for the process of differentiation self and the clinical application of Bowen theory.
“Evolution of Explanatory Models of Cancer and Related Epistemic (conceptual and explanatory) Issues” – Marta Bertolaso, Ph.D.
Learning Objectives:
- Present cancer biology as a “case study” for the relevance of a “systemic way of thinking,” to better understand the evolution of the explanatory models of carcinogenesis.
- Discuss the limits of current conceptual and explanatory models of carcinogenesis and other complex diseases.
- Explain the need for “a radical philosophical reflection” to drive cancer research out of its impasses.
- Discuss how cancer research is moving toward a more integrated comprehension of biological complexity to make sense of the multiplicity of causes.
“Anatomy of a Symptom” – Kathleen Kerr, MSN, CNS, ARPN
Learning Objectives:
- Analyze a case study describing the occurrence of cancer in the speaker from a “systems” point of view.
- Review of the impact of elevated chronic anxiety in important relationships (work and family) and how these changes can impact the individual.
- Explain how a person’s vulnerability to increased chronic anxiety in important relationships is related to an individual’s level of differentiation of self.
- Describe the inadvertent ways that important triangles can impinge on an individual and influence the individual’s vulnerability to the emergence of physical symptoms..
“Reformulating the Modern Idea of Scientific Progress” – Marta Bertolaso, Ph.D.
Learning Objectives:
- Discuss the need to reformulate the modern idea of scientific progress in terms of advancement and epistemic convergences, with its implications for “personalized approaches” in medicine.
- Demonstrate how cancer biology/research offers an interesting case study in how biological evidence, clinical aspects, and social commitment are entangled in the process of “scientific advancement” and clinical practice.
- Describe the need for development of critical tools to understand how scientific, ethical, and social challenges are related to research and practice.
- Discuss how “ethics of care” emerges as an aspect to be considered in research and practice.
