Yoshi Yoshida joins IND as a Marie Curie postdoc

Yoshi Yoshida joins the HPS-group in September for his Marie Curie postdoctoral project, “Epistemology of In Vitro Models in Comparative Biology”. He will be supervised by Sara Green.

The project focuses on how in vitro systems (e.g., organoids) may serve as plausible models of humans and non-human animals in the context of comparative and evolutionary biology. While in vitro technologies are most widely studied and used in the biomedical context, they are increasingly applied to cross-species comparisons.

"I will assess representational power of in vitro models in this context by examining research practices from different angles," said Yoshi Yoshida.

"What are benefits and limitations of standardized protocols at different contexts of research? How to integrate in vitro approaches with inferential and representational practices of comparative biology? What epistemic and non-epistemic values influence interactions between different experts, such as stem cell biologists and zookeepers?"

As a philosopher of biology, Yoshi Yoshida have studied epistemic issues concerning generalization and representation in developmental biology.

"This Marie Curie project will extend my past research by shifting my focus to in vitro comparative biology, which is at an intersection between stem cell biology, veterinary medicine, physical anthropology, and zoos, and also by incorporating qualitative methods from social sciences into my philosophical research."

In his free time, Yoshi enjoy drawing and painting using a tablet. You can see some of his beautiful work here.

"I am excited to join the HPS section, and the Department of Science Education more broadly, as well as live in Copenhagen, a beautiful historical city!"