3 December 2021

Anja Marie Bornø Jensen receives Sapere Aude research leader grant

Out of the 42 new Sapere Aude grants provided by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, one goes to Anja Marie Bornø Jensen from the Department of Public Health.

The Sapere Aude grant pool supports talented research leaders, giving them a chance to head their own research team.

“By supporting the best ideas from the most talented researchers, we contribute to creating optimum conditions for the individual researcher as well as for science, which benefits all of us,” says Maja Horst, who chairs the Board of the Independent Research Fund Denmark. 

Read more about Anja Marie Bornø Jensens project:

Title: “TechnEmotion: The Interaction between Technology and Emotion in Transplant Medicine”.
Grant: DKK 6,191,999.

New medical technologies constantly present us with new treatment options, new dilemmas and new ways of experimenting with human and animal bodies. This makes us contemplate our definitions of life and death, our understanding of the human body and what distinguishes human from animal. Big questions like these affect our emotions. But perhaps emotions also affect the way new technologies are implemented and used?

TechnEmotion is an anthropological project that studies the relation between technology and emotion in situations of life and death and when we are faced with difficult decisions. Anja Marie Bornø Jensen focusses on organ transplantation, which is an area characterised by great dilemmas and the desire for new technological solutions. Her research team will shine a spotlight on donation after circulatory death, which is about to be introduced in Denmark, organs in machines, uterus transplantation, anonymous kidney donation and research on transplantation from animal to human.

By visiting and talking to patients, families and health professionals who have personal experience with transplantation technology, TechnEmotion offers new knowledge about the future of organ transplantation and a framework for understanding the relation between technology and emotions. This can help us develop the area in Denmark and give us insight into humans’ emotions and thoughts on new medical technologies. Last, but not least, the study looks at how technologies can be used in a positive, caring way. The results will prove useful to various aspects of medical technology in situations of life and death.

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