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Faculty of Medicine

Department of Public Health

Projects & Collaborations

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Mapping Moral Polarities (MORALMAP): Strategies to Navigate and Bridge Polarised Public Discourse About New Plant Breeding Technologies

Research Project  | 6 Project Members

What is the research project about?

The project MORALMAP examines how people talk about new plant breeding technologies (NBTs) such as gene editing on social media. It will analyse posts and comments to see which moral ideas – for example fairness, care for the vulnerable or respect for nature and tradition – shape people’s views. It will then test different ways of explaining NBTs that connect with these moral concerns. To-gether with farmers, NGOs, industry and authorities, it will develop practical communication guidelines that help people discuss NBTs more openly and constructively.


Why is the research project important?

NBTs could help crops cope with climate change, pests and diseases, but their success depends on public trust. There are ethical questions about these technologies that the public are rightly concerned about. However, at present public discussions are often tense and fragmented, making it hard to weigh risks and benefits calmly. By mapping the moral “fault lines” in these debates and co-designing new messages, MORALMAP aims to support more informed public choices, strengthen dialogue be-tween science and society, and contribute to socially responsible innovation in plant breeding.


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Neuro-Ethos: The Ethics of Neurotechnology Advancements

Research Project  | 8 Project Members

In the evolving field of Bionic and Robotic Devices, Neurotechnology, particularly Neural Implants, stands as an increasingly influential sector. However, as Neural Implant technology advances, a significant challenge has emerged with manufacturers abandoning projects, leading to a phenomenon known as "abandonware." This leaves individuals who rely on these implants in vulnerable positions and raises serious ethical, clinical, and legal concerns.

The NeuroEthos project aims to comprehensively examine the implications of neural implant abandonware. It seeks to understand the reasons for such abandonments and their impacts on individuals and society, focusing on ethical, technical, clinical, and policy dimensions.

The project employs a multifaceted approach, starting with mapping and analyzing past Neurotech failures, with the goal to gather a comprehensive Body of Evidence. This is followed by conducting interviews with patients and key opinion leaders to gather firsthand experiences. The project then moves to a normative-empirical analysis to refine recommendations and adapt ethical frameworks. Finally, it focuses on dissemination and awareness raising to share findings and recommendations with the NeuroTech industry, scientific community, and patient groups.

NeuroEthos is the first project to address neural implant abandonware from a scientific and empirical perspective. The project aims to benefit patients by analyzing the individual impact of abandonware and revising clinical trial and consent processes. It also aims to raise awareness at the societal and healthcare levels and propose actionable societal recommendations. This initiative is not only urgent but also a moral imperative, aiming to safeguard individual well-being and societal integrity in the face of rapidly advancing Neurotechnology as a frontier in Bionic and Robotic Devices.


The NeuroEthos project is funded by the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) as an International Collaborative Project.


Read more about the project in the latest issue of UniNova magazine, the University of Basel's research magazine.

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REMEDY (Reducing Mistriage in Emergency Departments: A Path to Improved Triage Accuracy through Real-time Evaluation and Artificial Intelligence)

Research Project  | 4 Project Members

Imported from Grants Tool 4707568


RemEDy (Reducing Mistriage in Emergency Departments)

The demand for emergency care varies and can change rapidly. Emergency Department (ED) performance depends on the number of patients who present, and their flow through the ED to their safest and most appropriate disposition (admission to tertiary care, referral to one of the partnering hospitals, or discharge). Effective triage is critical for the safe management of patients presenting to the ED, ensuring the right patient receives the right care at the right time in the right place with the right resources. Despite the recognized importance of accurate triage of emergency department patients, approximately 20% to 30% experience incorrect triage level assignment, known as mistriage. Mistriage might be associated with adverse health outcomes. To enhance triage accuracy, it is crucial to understand the causes of mistriage and how they are associated with the characteristics of patients, triage clinicians, and ED metrics. A comprehensive understanding of mistriage will allow for the identification of potential areas for improvement, leading to the development of measures to avoid it. RemEDy (Reducing Mistriage in Emergency Departments) will identify and analyze mistriage in a real-time triage setting in 7 ED’s in German-speaking Switzerland, comparing routine triage procedures with expert triage simultaneously, and develop and evaluate an AI model that can potentially assist with triage decisions, aiming to detect patients who should not wait early. Based on the results, we will develop a learning module for triage clinicians and assess its effectiveness in reducing mistriage. This could result in enhanced accuracy in triage code assignment, thereby reducing mistriage and its associated consequences.

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Ethical and Social Implications of New Plant Breeding Technologies: Integrating Stakeholder Perspectives on Human and Planetary Health (BREETH)

Research Project  | 3 Project Members

New plant breeding technologies (NBTs) such as genome editing enable more efficient and flexible innovations in agriculture and food production than conventional breeding methods. Therefore, they can potentially contribute to global food security and improve public health and environmental sustainability. However, NBTs are currently covered by the Swiss moratorium on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The regulation of NBTs is difficult due to the low societal and political acceptance of GMOs and their ethical and social impacts. These issues need to be addressed to overcome polarization and enable a conscious public and political debate.


This project aims to provide an ethical assessment of the social and societal impacts of NBTs. We will combine ethical analysis with empirical analysis of public debates and stakeholder perceptions, with a focus on the social acceptance of NBTs in Switzerland. The results of the research project will help to analyze the nature and possible reasons for the low societal acceptance of GMOs in Switzerland and its implications for the regulation of NBTs in Switzerland and the European Union.