Kiarash Aramesh
M.D., Ph.D.

HOW WE FOOL OURSELVES IN TIMES OF SICKNESS

Not unlike many other cultures around the world, our culture is interwoven with old wives tales and superstitious beliefs. In such a culture, how should we grapple with issues when hard times strike? In particular, what can we do when affected by a rare disease?
Kiarash Aramesh is a Scholar in Residence at the Center for Healthcare Ethics at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, and an Associate Professor at the Medical Ethics and History of Medicine at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). He is a medical doctor and holds a specialty in community medicine and a Ph.D. in healthcare ethics. He has previously worked as a visiting scholar at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Hastings Center in the USA. He has served as a member of various committees, including the Specialized Research Ethics Committee of TUMS and the National Committee of Ethics in Science and Technology and Bioethics at the National Commission of UNESCO in Iran.
He has also played a prominent role in development of various institutions and activities related to biomedical ethics in Iran, including curriculum development for the first Ph.D. programs in medical ethics and developing and updating the first national guidelines for ethics in biomedical research.
Dr. Aramesh has published several books and articles on various aspects of biomedical ethics in English and Persian and delivered numerous presentations as invited lecturer in different international conferences. One of his current research interests is the science-pseudoscience debate and its ethical implications in biomedical research and practice.