Addressing Systemic Diseases: Perspectives from the Social and Biomedical Sciences. Research Questions and Ongoing Projects

In this session, Catherine Cavalin and Alain Lescoat will address systemic autoimmune diseases from an interdisciplinary perspective. They will present their long-term research on the nosology and etiology of these diseases—which are most often taught in medical school as having “complex” or “unknown” causes—as well as their ongoing research on these topics. In particular, they will discuss the historical evolution of our understanding of the environmental and occupational determinants of these diseases.

Catherine Cavalin is a CNRS research fellow in sociology at Cermes3 (Center for Research on Medicine, Science, Health, Mental Health, and Society). Her interdisciplinary research draws on sociology, contemporary history, economics, and statistics. Her work examines social inequalities in health, as well as the history and sociology of knowledge regarding systemic diseases of “unknown” origin in medicine and epidemiology.

Alain Lescoat is a university professor and hospital practitioner in the Department of Internal Medicine and Immunology at the Rennes University Hospital and at the University of Rennes. He coordinates the Reference Center for Rare Systemic Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Diseases in Adults in Northern France, Northwestern France, the Mediterranean Region, and Guadeloupe (CeRAINOM) in Rennes.