Staff profile

Alex Broadbent is Professor of Philosophy of Science at Durham University and Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He is Director of the Durham-Johannesburg Centre for Philosophy of Epidemiology, Medicine, and Public Health, and co-leads the Measurement Lab in the Institute for Medical Humanities. Besides his academic research in these areas, he publishes opinion pieces on the interface between science, humanities, and policy, and engages with policy and litigation in relation to epidemiology and public health. He is founding Editor in Chief of the journal Philosophy of Medicine, an Associate Editor of Global Epidemiology, and an Associate Member of Millennium Chambers of The Barrister Network, London.

• Causation and causal inference
• Philosophy of Epidemiology
• Philosophy of Public and Global Health
• Philosophy of law
• Philosophy of science
• Prediction and forecasting
• Philosophy of Medicine

Authored book

• Broadbent, A. (2019). Philosophy of Medicine. OUP
• Broadbent, A. (2016). Philosophy for Graduate Students: Metaphysics and Epistemology. Routledge
• Broadbent, A. (2013). Philosophy of Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137315601

Chapter in book

• Grote, T., & Broadbent, A. (2023). Machine Learning and Public Health: Philosophical Issues. In S. Venkatapuram, & A. Broadbent (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Public Health (190-204). Routledge
• Broadbent, A. (2022). Philosophy of Epidemiology. In L. McClimans (Ed.), Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Medicine (248-256). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Rowman & Littlefield International
• Broadbent, A., & Smart, B. (2022). Kinds of explanation in public health policy. In J. Sholl, & S. Rattan (Eds.), Explaining Health Across the Sciences (405-415). Springer Verlag
• Broadbent, A. (2017). Philosophy of Epidemiology. In J. Marcum (Ed.), The Bloomsbury Companion to Contemporary Philosophy of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474233033.ch-004
• Broadbent, A. (2016). Is Stability a Stable Category in Medical Epistemology?. In Angewandte Philosophie. Eine internationale Zeitschrift / Applied Philosophy. An International Journal. https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737005050.24
• Broadbent, A. (2013). Explanation and Responsibility. In B. Kahmen, & M. Stepanians (Eds.), Critical Essays on "Causation and Responsibility". https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110302295.239
• Broadbent, A. (2011). Inferring causation in epidemiology: Mechanisms, black boxes, and contrasts. In P. McKay Illari, F. Russo, & J. Williamson (Eds.), Causality in the Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof%3Aoso/9780199574131.003.0003

Edited book

• Venkatapuram, S., & Broadbent, A. (Eds.). (2023). Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Public Health. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315675411
• Broadbent, A., & Venkatapuram, S. (Eds.). (2022). The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Public Health. Routledge

Journal Article

• Broadbent, A., Vandenbroucke, J. P., & Pearce, N. (online). Formalism or pluralism? A reply to commentaries on ‘Causality and causal inference in epidemiology’. International Journal of Epidemiology, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw298
• Broadbent, A., Vandenbroucke, J., & Pearce, N. (online). Authors’ Reply to: VanderWeeleet al., Chiolero, and Schoolinget al. International Journal of Epidemiology, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw163
• Broadbent, A. (online). Risk Relativism and physical law. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 92-94
• Streicher, P., Broadbent, A., & Hellewell, J. (2025). The need for methodological pluralism in epidemiological modelling. Global epidemiology, 9, Article 100177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloepi.2024.100177
• van der Merwe, R., & Broadbent, A. (2024). A beginner's guide to crossing the road: towards an epistemology of successful action in complex systems. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, https://doi.org/10.1177/03080188241232777
• Rod, N. H., Broadbent, A., Rod, M. H., Russo, F., Arah, O. A., & Stronks, K. (2023). Complexity in Epidemiology and Public Health. Addressing Complex Health Problems Through a Mix of Epidemiologic Methods and Data. Epidemiology, 34(4), 505-514. https://doi.org/10.1097/ede.0000000000001612
• Streicher, P., & Broadbent, A. (2023). Pandemic response strategies and threshold phenomena. Global epidemiology, 5, Article 100105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloepi.2023.100105
• Broadbent, A., & Grote, T. (2022). Can Robots Do Epidemiology? Machine Learning, Causal Inference, and Predicting the Outcomes of Public Health Interventions. Philosophy & Technology, 35(1), Article 14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-022-00509-3
• Broadbent, A., & Streicher, P. (2022). Can you lock down in a slum? And who would benefit if you tried? Difficult questions about epidemiology's commitment to global health inequalities during Covid-19. Global epidemiology, 4, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100074
• Broadbent, A. (2021). The C-word, the P-word, and realism in epidemiology. Synthese, 198(S10), https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-019-02169-x
• Momoniat, E., Ade-Ibijola, A., Harley, C., Broadbent, A., & Nyabadza, F. (2021). Models and muddles in the COVID-19 pandemic. South African Journal of Science, 117(9/10), https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2021/9506
• Broadbent, A. (2020). Better the drug you know: Commentary on “Daughton 2020, Natural experiment concept to accelerate the re-purposing of existing therapeutics for Covid-19”. Global epidemiology, 2, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloepi.2020.100027
• Broadbent, A., Walker, D., Chalkidou, K., Sullivan, R., & Glassman, A. (2020). Lockdown is not egalitarian: the costs fall on the global poor. The Lancet, 396(10243), https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736%2820%2931422-7
• Broadbent, A., Combrink, H., & Smart, B. (2020). COVID-19 in South Africa. Global epidemiology, 2, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloepi.2020.100034
• Broadbent, A. (2019). The inquiry model of medicine. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 191(4), https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.180508
• Broadbent, A. (2019). Health as a Secondary Property. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 70(2), https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/axx014
• Broadbent, A. (2018). Prediction, Understanding, and Medicine. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 43(3), https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhy003
• Broadbent, A. (2018). Intellectualizing Medicine: A Reply to Commentaries on “Prediction, Understanding, and Medicine”. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 43(3), https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhy002
• Broadbent, A., & Hwang, S.-S. (2016). Tobacco and epidemiology in Korea: old tricks, new answers?. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 70(6), https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2015-206567
• Vandenbroucke, J. P., Broadbent, A., & Pearce, N. (2016). Causality and causal inference in epidemiology: the need for a pluralistic approach. International Journal of Epidemiology, 45(6), https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyv341
• Fuller, J., Broadbent, A., & Flores, L. J. (2015). Prediction in epidemiology and medicine. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 54, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.07.001
• Broadbent, A. (2015). Epidemiological evidence in law: a comment on Supreme Court Decision 2011Da22092, South Korea. Epidemiology and Health, 37, https://doi.org/10.4178/epih/e2015025
• Vlerick, M., & Broadbent, A. (2015). Evolution and Epistemic Justification. Dialectica, 69(2), https://doi.org/10.1111/1746-8361.12098
• Broadbent, A. (2015). Causation and prediction in epidemiology: A guide to the “Methodological Revolution”. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 54, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.06.004
• Simon, J., Broadbent, A., & Gifford, F. (2015). Beyond bioethics: the 5th International Philosophy of Medicine Roundtable. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 36, 1-5
• Broadbent, A. (2014). Disease as a theoretical concept: The case of “HPV-itis”. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 48, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2014.07.010
• Broadbent, A. (2012). Causes of causes. Philosophical Studies, 158,
• Broadbent, A. (2012). Philosophy and preventive medicine. Preventive Medicine, 55(6), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.08.023
• Broadbent, A. (2011). EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IN PROOF OF SPECIFIC CAUSATION. Legal Theory, 17(4), https://doi.org/10.1017/s1352325211000206
• Broadbent, A. (2011). Conceptual and methodological issues in epidemiology: An overview. Preventive Medicine, 53(4-5), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.09.005
• Broadbent, A. (2011). What could possibly go wrong? — A heuristic for predicting population health outcomes of interventions. Preventive Medicine, 53(4-5), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.09.009
• Broadbent, A. (2011). Defining neglected disease. BioSocieties, 6(1), https://doi.org/10.1057/biosoc.2010.41
• Broadbent, A. (2009). Causation and models of disease in epidemiology. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 40(4), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2009.09.006
• Broadbent, A. (2009). FACT AND LAW IN THE CAUSAL INQUIRY. Legal Theory, 15(3), https://doi.org/10.1017/s1352325209990024
• Broadbent, A. (2008). The Difference Between Cause and Condition. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 108(1pt3), https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9264.2008.00250.x
• Broadbent, A. (2008). For analytic bioethics. Clinical Ethics, 3(4), https://doi.org/10.1258/ce.2008.008031
• Broadbent, A. (2007). Reversing the Counterfactual Analysis of Causation. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 15(2), https://doi.org/10.1080/09672550701383418

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Broadbent, A. (2020). Causation

Working Paper

• Bayani, D., Krubiner, C., Barasa, E., Biribawa, C., Broadbent, A., Casas, L., Chalkidou, K., Chi, Y., Combrink, H., Denis, O., Kaakyo, M., Kabia, E., Kasera, K., Kazungu, J., Ogero, M., Organi, S., Paterno, A., Regan, L., Smart, B., Streicher, P., …Walker, D. (2021). The Indirect Health Effects of COVID-19: Emerging Findings from Kenya, the Philippines, South Africa, and Uganda