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Professor Bobbie Farsides

Professor Bobbie Farsides (BSc, PhD)

Emeritus Professor of Clinical and Biomedical Ethics
E: B.Farsides@bsms.ac.uk

Areas of expertise: Medical ethics

Research areas: Medical ethics and humanities; neuroscience

Biography

Bobbie joined Brighton and Sussex Medical School as Professor of Clinical and Biomedical Ethics in 2006. She had previously held posts at the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics, King’s College London (Lecturer/Senior Lecturer 1996-2006) and the Department of Philosophy, Keele University (Lecturer 1986-96). She is a graduate of the London School of Economics (B.Sc Econ Government) where she also studied for her PhD under the late Professor Sir Maurice Cranston.

Professor Farsides has been involved in developing the academic field of Bioethics for over thirty years. Whilst at Keele she was part of the team that established innovative master’s programmes which continue to this day, and whilst at King’s she was part of the team delivering their highly successful MA in Medical Law and Ethics. As the Ethics team has grown at BSMS the opportunity arose to develop a new postgraduate offering and in 2021 BSMS will be launching its MA in Contemporary Bioethics.

Since joining BSMS Professor Farsides has been able to expand her activities in relation to global health issues and she is an active member of the Global Health Bioethics Network. She has supervised doctoral projects in The Gambia, Ethiopia and now in China, and has strong links to the ethics and public engagement teams in all the Wellcome Trust Major Overseas project sites.

As a long-standing member of faculty Professor Farsides sees an important part of her role as offering mentorship and support to junior colleagues, and she is an enthusiastic and committed mentor to a number of colleagues within BSMS, partner universities and beyond. She was Deputy Chair of the BSMS Research Ethics and Governance committee for ten years and served as Deputy Director, and then Director of Student Support.

Professor Farsides became Emeritus Professor in 2025.

Selected publications

Ferretti, A., Ienca, M., Sheehan, M. et al. Ethics review of big data research: What should stay and what should be reformed?. BMC Med Ethics 22, 51 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-021-00616-4

Cottrell L, Economos G, Evans C, Silber E, Burman R, Nicholas R, et al. (2020) A realist review of advance care planning for people with multiple sclerosis and their families. PLoS ONE 15(10): e0240815. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240815

Farsides B. Commentary 2: Always be Prepared: Anticipating and Confronting Ethical Challenges in the Research Setting. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics. 2019;14(5):516-518. doi:10.1177/1556264619835709b

Jepkosgei J, Nzinga J, McKnight J. Maintaining Distance and Staying Immersed: Practical Ethics in an Underresourced New Born Unit. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics. 2019;14(5):509-512. doi:10.1177/1556264619835709

Samuel, G.N., Farsides, B. Public trust and ‘ethics review’ as a commodity: the case of Genomics England Limited and the UK’s 100,000 genomes project. Med Health Care and Philos 21, 159–168 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-017-9810-1

Samuel GN, Farsides B. Genomics England’s implementation of its public engagement strategy: Blurred boundaries between engagement for the United Kingdom’s 100,000 Genomes project and the need for public support. Public Understanding of Science. 2018;27(3):352-364. doi:10.1177/0963662517747200

Dheensa S, Samuel G, Lucassen AM, et al. Towards a national genomics medicine service: the challenges facing clinical-research hybrid practices and the case of the 100 000 genomes project. Journal of Medical Ethics 2018; 44:397-403.

Ine Van Hoyweghen, Erik Aarden. (2021) One for All, All for One? Containing the Promise of Solidarity in Precision Medicine. Critical Public Health 0:0, pages 1-12.

Samuel, G.N., Dheensa, S., Farsides, B. et al. Healthcare professionals’ and patients’ perspectives on consent to clinical genetic testing: moving towards a more relational approach. BMC Med Ethics 18, 47 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-017-0207-8

Jarrett, L. (Ed.). (2007). Creative Engagement in Palliative Care: New perspectives on user involvement (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315380049

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