Addressing systemic diseases: perspectives from the social and biomedical sciences. Research questions and ongoing projects

In this session, Catherine Cavalin and Alain Lescoat will take an interdisciplinary look at systemic autoimmune diseases. They will present their long-term work on the nosology and etiology of these diseases, which are most often taught in medicine as having "complex" or "unknown" causes, as well as ongoing research on these issues. In particular, they will discuss the historical evolution of knowledge about the environmental and occupational determinants of these diseases.

Catherine Cavalin is a research fellow in sociology at the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research) at Cermes3 (Research Center for Medicine, Science, Health, Mental Health, and Society). Her interdisciplinary work draws on sociology, contemporary history, economics, and statistics. It focuses on social inequalities in health and the history and sociology of knowledge relating to 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 Rennes University Hospital and the University of Rennes. He coordinates the reference center for rare systemic autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases in adults in northern, northwestern, Mediterranean, and Guadeloupe (CeRAINOM) in Rennes.