Finnish Medico-Historical Society

Nordic Medical History Congress 2023

Keynote lectures
The 28th Nordic Medical History Congress is proud to host keynote speeches from four prominent scholars representing the diverse field of medical history.
Hilde Bras
"African Population and Health: A Plea for an Integrated Historical Perspective"
Hilde Bras is Aletta Jacobs Professor of Economic and Social History, with special attention to Global Demography and Health, at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Groningen. Her research interests include historical demography, reproductive health, maternal health, child health, and health inequalities, in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular. Her current research project “White Sisters, nursing practices and reproductive health in East-Africa, 1890–present” examines the role of missionary nurses in African population and health. Bras is also a board member in several scientific institutions, including the Groningen Centre for Health and Humanities and the Historical Sample of the Netherlands.
Laurence Brockliss
"Medical networks in Victorian Britain: the role of dynasticism"
Laurence Brockliss is professor emeritus of early modern French history in Magdalen College, University of Oxford, and a fellow of the British Academy. His main research interests include the history of medicine and other sciences, the history of education, and the history of ideas, particularly in early modern France and Britain. He has published extensively on these topics, with several of his books focusing on medical science during the Age of Enlightenment. He is also interested in the history of childhood and has served as the director of the Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood. Brockliss is currently concentrating on a prosopographical study of the British professions in the long nineteenth century, examining both scientific networks and family connections.
Laurence Brockliss
"Medical networks in Victorian Britain: the role of dynasticism"
Laurence Brockliss is professor emeritus of early modern French history in Magdalen College, University of Oxford, and a fellow of the British Academy. His main research interests include the history of medicine and other sciences, the history of education, and the history of ideas, particularly in early modern France and Britain. He has published extensively on these topics, with several of his books focusing on medical science during the Age of Enlightenment. He is also interested in the history of childhood and has served as the director of the Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood. Brockliss is currently concentrating on a prosopographical study of the British professions in the long nineteenth century, examining both scientific networks and family connections.
Maria Josephson
"In pursuit of hope: behind the scenes of the Swedish THX controversy"
Maria Josephson is a historian of medicine with a Ph.D in the History of Science and Ideas from Uppsala university. Her earlier research concerns the history of transient illnesses, diagnosis, and the transformation of medical concepts in relation to perceived illness, mainly during the 1900’s. Currently she focuses on cancer and cancer treatment in Sweden, and has recently finished a research project about the controversial cancer drug THX and the debate around its effects in post war Sweden. Josephson works at Karolinska Institutet as an administrative officer for Medical History and Cultural Heritage, and as a lecturer in the History of Medicine.
May-Brith Ohman Nielsen
"Toxic Timescapes – Studying everyday toxic exposure as a historical phenomenon 1850–2020"
May-Brith Ohman Nielsen is professor of history at University of Agder and editor of Historisk Tidsskrift. She is leader of the project “Deadly Dreams – The cultural history of poison 1950-2020”. Her latest book, together with Simone Müller, is Toxic Timescapes – Examining Toxicity across Time and Space (2022). Among her other books are Bugs and Borders (2015), and Mennesker, Makt og Mikrober (2008). She has a special research interest in the social and cultural history of pesticides and cross-species history and examples of her work can be found in the articles “Syntheticising Scandinavia: The Introduction of Synthetic Pesticides to Scandinavian Gardens, 1945-1952” (Journal of History of Science and Technology) and “Poison to the Beasts: Changing Poisons and Poisoning Practices in Campaigns to Kill Norwegian Birds and Mammals, 1845–1967” (Environment and History 2018).
May-Brith Ohman Nielsen
"Toxic Timescapes – Studying everyday toxic exposure as a historical phenomenon 1850–2020"
May-Brith Ohman Nielsen is professor of history at University of Agder and editor of Historisk Tidsskrift. She is leader of the project “Deadly Dreams – The cultural history of poison 1950-2020”. Her latest book, together with Simone Müller, is Toxic Timescapes – Examining Toxicity across Time and Space (2022). Among her other books are Bugs and Borders (2015), and Mennesker, Makt og Mikrober (2008). She has a special research interest in the social and cultural history of pesticides and cross-species history and examples of her work can be found in the articles “Syntheticising Scandinavia: The Introduction of Synthetic Pesticides to Scandinavian Gardens, 1945-1952” (Journal of History of Science and Technology) and “Poison to the Beasts: Changing Poisons and Poisoning Practices in Campaigns to Kill Norwegian Birds and Mammals, 1845–1967” (Environment and History 2018).