About the institute
The Institute of History and Ethics in Medicine (IHEM) at the Technical University of Munich was founded in 1972. It was originally named the “Institute for the History of Medicine and Medical Sociology.” Today, the focus of IHEM is on medical ethics, research ethics, the ethics of new health technologies, and clinical ethics. In addition, IHEM also covers the history and theory of medicine. The Institute is part of the TUM School of Medicine and Health (formerly the Faculty of Medicine).
The research conducted at IHEM is highly interdisciplinary. Research groups include the Chair of Ethics in Medicine and Health Technologies led by Prof. Dr. Alena Buyx, and the Professorship of Ethics in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience led by Prof. Dr. Marcello Ienca. The research groups collaborate closely with the TUM University hospital, the School of Social Sciences and Technology, and other schools at TUM, as well as with a wide range of universities and research institutions in Munich, Germany, and abroad. Currently, researchers in the Munich Embedded Ethics and Social Science Hub at IHEM are further refining and scaling their Embedded Ethics approach in the development of medical innovations, such as for the responsible use of artificial intelligence in medicine and healthcare. The institute research team also addresses new questions in the fields of neuroethics and public health ethics. This work has received international funding and support, and a significant amount of current research projects at IHEM are conducted within the framework of larger research consortia or funded by the European Research Council, the European Commission, the German Research Foundation, or the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space, among others. In addition, a wide range of clinical ethics counseling services are offered.
IHEM offers multiple courses for TUM students and engages in active science communication. Policy consulting as a result of specific research expertise is also an important area of work for IHEM team members. The scientific work at IHEM is thus characterized by the combination of theoretical and various empirical approaches and methods, aiming to promote reflective, transparent, and interdisciplinary research, teaching, and policy consulting. In doing so, both the opportunities and challenges of medical innovations are analyzed within their social, normative, and historical contexts.
In research and teaching, the Institute’s researchers address central questions at the intersection of medicine, ethics, and society, including, for example:
- How can artificial intelligence, when used as an evidence-based and responsibly deployed decision-making tool for physicians, contribute to improving diagnostic and therapeutic processes?
- Under what conditions can the use of robotic systems in nursing care improve the quality of care and alleviate the workload of medical staff?
- Upon what forms of solidarity and social responsibility can modern medicine build in the age of technological innovation?
- How can biomedical databases and data-driven methods—including AI—optimize the early detection, diagnosis, and prevention of diseases?
- Which historical developments, particularly medicine under National Socialism, continue to shape ethical standards and institutional responsibility in medicine today?
These questions illustrate the broad and interdisciplinary scope of the Institute of History and Ethics in Medicine at the Technical University of Munich, which is committed to providing scientifically sound and ethically reflective guidance for medical innovations and broader public and policy debates.
Embedded Ethics
The Munich Embedded Ethics and Social Science Hub (MESH) is a cross-institutional research group of our Institute of the History and Ethics in Medicine and the Department of Science, Technology, and Society. We work together to promote the integration of ethical and social aspects into the entire development process of health technologies in an integrated, collaborative, and interdisciplinary way.
The MESH brings together projects that address the critical ethical, social and political issues that arise with the application of new technologies. It emphasizes work that aims to improve care and equity and reach underserved populations in healthcare.
The approach we develop is called Embedded Ethics and Social Science (EESS). It combines participatory research practices with empirical bioethical and social scientific analysis.
Medical Ethics
In medical ethics, the focus is primarily on questions of responsible development and the introduction of new biomedical technologies. Here, the Institute stands for an embedded ethics approach, in which ethical aspects are part of the technical development from the very beginning.
Other areas of focus include new concepts of solidarity in medicine as well as neuroethics, research ethics, and public health ethics.
History of Medicine
The history of medicine is primarily concerned with questions relating to the historical perspective of culturally and socially relevant issues in medicine.
In the field of medical history, the Institute focuses on research questions concerning the preconditions, the dynamics and the aftermath of medical crimes under National Socialism and is actively involved in shaping a culture of remembrance in this regard.
- For us, embedded ethics means the integration of ethical thinking strategies where technology is developed.
- Together with our colleagues in third-party funded projects, we collaboratively research and develop best practices for the embedded ethics approach.
- To consolidate and further develop the approach, we founded the Munich Embedded Ethics and Social Science Hub (MESH), a cross-institutional research group of our Institute of the History and Ethics in Medicine and the Department of Science, Technology, and Society.
- History of medicine deals with the developments, lines of continuity and ruptures in medicine from a historical perspective
- One of the Institute's research focuses is on the subject of medicine under National Socialism
- In addition to researching the work of medical professionals, the focus is equally on the patient perspective
- Currently, the Clinical Ethics service is represented by the Clinical Ethics Committee (KEK), the Mobile Ethics Team, and the Senior Clinical Ethics Physician
- The further development of ethics structures and services at the hospital is carried out in close cooperation with the employees in order to use existing processes and to implement suitable structures in the hospital's daily routine in the long term.
- Research at IGEM is carried out in numerous projects, funded by third-party donors such as the EU, BMFTR, DFG, NIH, Max Planck Society and bidt.
- Since 2018, the institute has raised over 8,6 million euros in funding.
- IGEM maintains cooperations with other departments within TUM as well as with other universities and institutes from Germany and abroad.