Research Experience

2020-present Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Artificial Intelligence and Medicine

I am part of a team led by Prof Stacy Carter, Director of the Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values (ACHEEV) at the University of Wollongong. The project funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council is called “The algorithm will see you now: ethical, legal and social implications of adopting machine learning systems for diagnosis and screening”. The project examines the way in which AI is changing healthcare, and the values of data scientists, health professionals and the public. In particular, the project employs deliberative and participatory methods of empirical social science research.

2020 Research assistant, Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

The research job is under the Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, Macquarie University. The Alliance brings together more than 90 national and international partners and engaged stakeholders in academia, government, consumer, clinical, industry organisations, and peak bodies to translate frontier artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into real-world health services. I help manage two projects. The first involves identifying ethical issues arising from protocls that guide allocation decision during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information about the project, visit aihealthalliance.org ↗. In another project, I help perform a scoping review of national and international ethical frameworks for health applications of AI.

2019-2020 Senior research officer, “Case for Work”

I facilitate Chief Investigator Prof Jean-Philippe Deranty (Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University) in developing and maintaining a web site for his Australian Research Council-funded project “The Case for Work”. The website serves as for important publications on work.
I provide support in scoping publications to do with debates “for and against” the centrality of work, the idea that work is at the centre of personal life and social organisation.
Visit the project’s website for more information: www.onwork.edu.au ↗.

2016-2019 Doctoral researcher, “Ethics of Pathologising Ugliness”

Doctoral thesis, under the supervision of Prof Wendy Rogers and Prof Jean-Philippe Deranty, involved a conceptual and ethical analyses of the practice of pathologising ugliness in cosmetic surgery. The conceptual analysis demonstrates that biomedical and sociocultural factors underpin the conflation of health and beauty that, in turn, facilitates the pathologisation of ugliness. The ethical analysis, however, shows ethical conflicts between aesthetic judgments and ethical medical judgments in terms of common clinical processes that include diagnostic evaluation, disease determination and establishing clinical indications.
Primary disciplines studied: philosophy of medicine, medical ethics, medicine
Secondary disciplines studied: history of medicine, history of cosmetic surgery, medical sociology and anthropology, philosophy of biology, feminist and gender studies, race studies, disability studies
External examiners: Prof Jan Helge Solbakk (University of Oslo), Prof Michael Loughlin (University of West London), Prof Ian Kerridge (University of Sydney)

Read thesis abstract ↓

ABSTRACT: My dissertation critically examines the practice of pathologising ugliness in cosmetic surgery. ‘Pathologising ugliness’ refers to the use of disease language and medical processes to foster and support the claim that undesirable features are pathological conditions requiring medical or surgical intervention. The first four chapters offer a conceptual analysis of the conflation of health and aesthetic norms that potentially contributes to pathologising ugliness. The conceptual analysis is based on competing philosophical accounts of health, disease, beauty and ugliness. The final two chapters offer a critique of the practice by using Daniel Callahan’s goals of medicine as an ethical framework. I argue that aesthetic judgments, which underpin the pathologisation of ugliness, fail at establishing robust processes of disease determination, standard diagnostic evaluation and legitimate clinical indications. Furthermore, I contend that the practice of pathologising ugliness, which relies on prejudicial standards of beauty, legitimises oppressive attitudes based on sex, race and disability. Thus, my analysis shows that pathologising ugliness raises ethical conflicts that ultimately undermine the goals of medicine.

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2015 Postgraduate researcher, Macquarie University, “Ethics of Medicalising Asian Features”

Master of Research thesis, under the supervision of Prof Wendy Rogers, involved an empirical study using content analysis to investigate the marketing of cosmetic surgery websites that specialise in procedures that modify Asian facial features. Findings show the use of a medico-scientific narrative that emphasises scientific objectivity and medical expertise in situating racial features as medical concerns.
Disciplines studied: bioethics, medical sociology, cultural and race studies
External examiners: Emeritus Prof Paul Schotsmans (KU Leuven) and Prof Justin Oakley (Monash University)

Read thesis abstract ↓

ABSTRACT: In East Asian countries, the ever-growing popularity of facial cosmetic surgery has generated various debates on the ethical implications of the practice. Ethical discussions are zooming in on the medicalisation of race-identifying facial features, such as Asian eyelids, in what has been referred to as Asian cosmetic surgery. In this study, I first posit that medicalisation in Asian cosmetic surgery can be interpreted in two forms: treatment versus enhancement forms. In the treatment form, cosmetic surgery is viewed as a remedy for “pathologised” Asian features. In the enhancement form, cosmetic surgery is seen as a form of improving the normal, albeit unwanted, racial features. Next, I present the findings from an empirical study that investigates medicalisation and its two forms in cosmetic surgery websites hosted in South Korea and Australia, as both countries are experiencing a growing number of aesthetic surgery clinics for Asians. Finally, I offer an ethical analysis of the consequences of medicalising racial features, mainly drawing from the findings of the empirical study. In particular, I describe how the practice influences individual autonomy and how it impacts on the traditional goals of medicine.

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2014 Postgraduate researcher, Erasmus Mundus, “Ethics of Medicalising Asian Features”

The Erasmus Mundus Master of Bioethics was hosted in three universities, including KU Leuven, Belgium; Radboud University, Netherlands; University of Padua, Italy
My thesis, under the supervision of Prof Norbert Steinkamp, integrated narrative and systematic review methods to identify (1) sources of knowledge and (2) important themes of the ethical debate related to surgical alteration of facial features in East Asians.
Disciplines studied: bioethics, medical sociology, cultural and race studies
Awarded best thesis

Read thesis abstract ↓

ABSTRACT: This review aims to identify (1) sources of knowledge and (2) important themes of the ethical debate related to surgical alteration of facial features in East Asians. This article integrates narrative and systematic review methods. In March 2014, we searched databases including PubMed, Philosopher’s Index, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts, and Communication Abstracts using key terms “cosmetic surgery,” “ethnic,” “ethics,” “Asia,” and “Western*.” The study included all types of papers written in English that discuss the debate on rhinoplasty and blepharoplasty in East Asians. No limit was put on date of publication. Combining both narrative and systematic review methods, a total of 31 articles were critically appraised on their contribution to ethical reflection founded on the debates regarding the surgical alteration of Asian features. Sources of knowledge were drawn from four main disciplines, including the humanities, medicine or surgery, communications, and economics. Focusing on cosmetic surgery perceived as a westernising practice, the key debate themes included authenticity of identity, interpersonal relationships and socio-economic utility in the context of Asian culture. The study shows how cosmetic surgery of ethnic features plays an important role in understanding female identity in the Asian context. Based on the debate themes authenticity of identity, interpersonal relationships, and socio-economic utility, this article argues that identity should be understood as less individualistic and more as relational and transformational in the Asian context. In addition, this article also proposes to consider cosmetic surgery of Asian features as an interplay of cultural imperialism and cultural nationalism, which can both be a source of social pressure to modify one’s appearance.

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2016, 2017, 2019 Research assistant, Macquarie University

Under the supervision of Prof Wendy Rogers (Department of Philosophy), I assisted in proofreading and referencing articles for publications, budget planning for research funding applications, scoping relevant articles, online news publications, blogs to develop research questions and aims for a funding proposal.

2004-2005 Medical research team, University of the Philippines, College of Medicine

Part of a team that performed a scientific study of the wound-healing effects of virgin coconut oil in golden Syrian hamsters.

2001 Research assistant, Asian Social Institute, Manila, Philippines

Performed day-to-day administrative duties, such as managing email enquiries, phone calls and reception, and assisted in the organisation of the Asian Bioethics Conference held in Manila in 2001.
To know more about the institute, visit asinet-online.org ↗.

Follow Yves Saint James’ research on:

ResearchGate ↗
Academia.edu ↗
PhilPeople ↗
Semantic Scholar ↗

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View Yves Saint James’ publications here ↗.