An excessively long QT interval on an electrocardiogram indicates risk of a rare but dangerous arrythmia known as Torsades des Pointes, which can lead to fainting spells and sudden cardiac death. There exists a small average difference in QT interval length between women and men. Connected with the widely publicized downfall of the blockbuster drug Seldane in the 1990s, women’s purportedly prolonged QT interval became a touchstone example of the potentially deadly consequences of conducting drug testing only in men.
Revisiting the canonical story of the QT interval, Seldane, and sex differences in adverse drug events, this talk examines this iconic sex difference fact in the history of women’s health and drug safety testing. Applying a sex contextualist framework (Richardson 2022), I show how contextual judgments about whether and when sex is relevant occur all along the pathway of reasoning about how to best predict the safety profile of a drug, including when designing model systems in non-human animals, in vitro, and in silico screens.
Sarah Richardson is Aramont Professor of the History of Science and Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University, where she has taught since 2010. Her courses include gender and science, feminist science studies, interdisciplinary research methods in gender studies, bias, hype, and objectivity in science, heredity and reproduction, postgenomics, medical management of the female body, and sex, gender, and evolution.
An expert in the history and philosophy of the sciences of sex, gender, sexuality, and reproduction, she also writes and teaches about race and science, history and philosophy of biology (in particular, genomics and evolutionary biology), feminist epistemology and philosophy of science, and the social dimensions of scientific knowledge. She currently serves on the Harvard Standing Committees for Degrees in Social Studies and for the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Interfaculty Initiative.
This talk has been generously cosponsored by the Center for History, Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Ethics in Medicine and Women and Gender Studies.
Revisiting the canonical story of the QT interval, Seldane, and sex differences in adverse drug events, this talk examines this iconic sex difference fact in the history of women’s health and drug safety testing. Applying a sex contextualist framework (Richardson 2022), I show how contextual judgments about whether and when sex is relevant occur all along the pathway of reasoning about how to best predict the safety profile of a drug, including when designing model systems in non-human animals, in vitro, and in silico screens.
Sarah Richardson is Aramont Professor of the History of Science and Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University, where she has taught since 2010. Her courses include gender and science, feminist science studies, interdisciplinary research methods in gender studies, bias, hype, and objectivity in science, heredity and reproduction, postgenomics, medical management of the female body, and sex, gender, and evolution.
An expert in the history and philosophy of the sciences of sex, gender, sexuality, and reproduction, she also writes and teaches about race and science, history and philosophy of biology (in particular, genomics and evolutionary biology), feminist epistemology and philosophy of science, and the social dimensions of scientific knowledge. She currently serves on the Harvard Standing Committees for Degrees in Social Studies and for the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Interfaculty Initiative.
This talk has been generously cosponsored by the Center for History, Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Ethics in Medicine and Women and Gender Studies.
| Building: | Tisch Hall |
|---|---|
| Event Type: | Lecture / Discussion |
| Tags: | History, Science, Social Sciences |
| Source: | Happening @ Michigan from Science, Technology and Society |
