Prof John Abraham

Biography

As a political sociologist of science, technology & medicine and medical sociologist, have particular interests in the development, testing and regulation of drug safety/efficacy/innovation and the sociology and politics of the pharmaceutical industry worldwide. This work aims to inform, and when appropriate transform, science, public, and health policy. I am Co-director of the Centre for Research in Health and Medicine (CRHaM) at Sussex. Main theoretical interests include the coherence and applicability of realist, relativist and constructivist approaches in science & technology studies (STS).

As a sociologist of education, particularly interested in processes of social class-related differentiation/polarisation/inequality, and associated education policy. I published the first book-length ethnographic study of a comprehensive school in Britain streamed by setting - the dominant mode of streaming in Britain. Main theoretical interests include objectivity, class conceptualisations, ideologies of 'intelligence', and models of ethnography.

Other research interests are: the political economy of food - work which has been used for documentary films; mathematics & society; and media (esp. television) representation of global development, in relation to public education about capitalism/socialism/environment.

I have published over a hundred articles (over 70 in major international journals, including over 50 empirical research articles in high-impact-factor, ISI-listed journals), seven authored books (mainly empirical fieldwork-based research monographs), two edited books, and numerous reports to ESRC, MRC, and other Research, Governmental, and Non-Governmental Organisations. My 2010 article on 'Pharmaceuticalisation of Society' was nominated by the British Sociological Association for the Sage Prize of best sociology article of the year for excellence and innovation. Examples of major, recent, and latest publications in my various research fields are provided below.

Initially, trained as a mathematician, working with the Radical Statistics arm of the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science; then pursued 3 postgraduate degrees: MSc in Science Policy Studies, MA in Sociology and DPhil in Politics.

I am Specialist Expert Adviser to the House of Commons Health Select Committee and centrally involved in the Commons' eight-month Select Committee Inquiry into 'The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry' (2005) - the most comprehensive and wide-ranging Parliamentary investigation of the pharmaceutical sector since 1914. This culminated in a 670-page report in two volumes, which have been cited many hundreds of times across several continents. I am Chair of the main ESRC Research Grants Panel (B), a member of the ESRC's Grants Delivery Group, and Vice-Chair of the ESRC Research Seminars Competition Panel.  I also sit on the Editorial Boards of Social Studies of Science, New Genetics & Society and Current Drug Safety. Awarded honour of Professorial Scholar at Australian National University in 2002. I have presented over a hundred papers and keynote plenary lectures. Recent plenary lectures delivered to World Health Organization, Social Science & Health Research Councils of Canada (GIERSO), International Society of Pharmacovigiliance, Royal College of Psychiatrists, European Congress of Toxicology, European Science Foundation, British Medical Association, INFARMED, the International Society of Social Pharmacy, Basel Institute on Governance, European Commission MEDUSE programme at University of Liege, and the All-Party UK Parliamentary Group on Corporate Responsibility. Have contributed to national TV and radio documentaries and debates in UK and abroad, and been asked to be an advisory consultant to ESRC, European Commission, Health Canada and UK DTI.

Role

Professor of Sociology & Co-director of Centre for Research in Health and Medicine (CRHaM), and elected Senator of the University

Since the 1990s, I have managed, as sole PI & director, 8 international ESRC-funded projects and one Wellcome Trust funded project. Also involved in the management of five other international projects, one funded by WWF (Co-I), one by European Commission ('scientist-in-charge'), one by Wellcome Trust (Co-I), one by Canadian Institute for Health Research, and the other by the ESRC (Co-I) on 'pharmaceuticalization of sleep' (Total Research Council FEC-equivalent grant income of approx. £5.0M to date). Together these projects have formed a major empirical research programme in the Sussex Sociology Department on 'Pharmaceuticals and Public Health: Regulation, Innovation and Biomedical Ethics'. The programme spans the interface of sociology of science and technology and medical sociology, with particular emphasis on international comparative research and international research generally. Countries researched in the programme include: UK, US, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, the supranational EU and Canada

Some ongoing research projects are on 'social and political dynamics of drugs safety withdrawals in the UK and the US, 1971-92' (ESRC); 'regulation of innovative pharmaceuticals in US and supranational EU' (ESRC); 'ethical and public policy implications of transgenics in carcinogenic risk assessment of pharmaceuticals' (Wellcome Trust); and 'UK and US drug safety withdrawals in a changing political context, 1993-2008' (ESRC).

'User groups' include: the US Food and Drug Administration, the US National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, the European Medicines Evaluation Agency, the medical, pharmacology, social pharmacy, toxicology, epidemiology and public health professions, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, the pharmaceutical industry, Health Action International, Public Citizen in the US and the UK Consumers' Association. In addition, I publish regularly in the Lancet and British Medical Journal to help to reach user groups.

Latest Publications

Abraham J, Ballinger R (2012) Power, expertise and the limits of representative democracy: genetics as scientific progress or political legitimation in carcinogenic risk assessment of pharmaceuticals? Journal of Community Genetics 3, 91-103.

Davis, C, Abraham J (2012) Unhealthy Pharmaceutical Regulation: Innovation, Politics and Promissory Science. London & New York: Palgrave, 255pp.

Davis C, Abraham J (2011) ‘A comparative analysis of risk management strategies in EU and US pharmaceutical regulation’ Health, Risk & Society, 13, 413-31.   

Abraham J (2011) ‘Evolving sociological analyses of “pharmaceuticalization”’ Sociology of Health & Illness 33, 726-28.   

Davis C, Abraham J (2011) ‘The socio-political roots of pharmaceutical uncertainty in the evaluation of “innovative” diabetes drugs in the EU and the US’ Social Science & Medicine, 72, 1574-81.

Davis C, Abraham J (2011) ‘Desperately seeking cancer drugs: explaining the emergence and outcomes of accelerated pharmaceutical regulation’ Sociology of Health & Illness, 33, 731-47.

Davis C, Abraham J (2011) ‘Re-thinking innovation accounting in pharmaceutical regulation: a case study in the deconstruction of “therapeutic advance” and “therapeutic breakthrough”’ Science, Technology & Human Values, 36, 791-815.

Research Students and Studentships

I am an enthusiastic supervisor of doctoral students. I am currently supervising six doctoral students, of which three are ESRC-funded, and four are full-time. I have an 80% success rate at gaining full-time ESRC studentships for D.Phil. candidates and a 100% pass rate without revision for all the doctoral students I have supervised. 85% of my doctoral students have been ESRC-funded, enabling them to conduct fieldwork in UK, US, South Africa and several European countries. Recent and current doctoral work of some of these students are:

• regulation of pharmaceuticals in central and eastern Europe (ESRC, sole-supervised)
• political sociology of medicalisation and lifestyle pharmaceuticals (ESRC, sole-supervised)
• globalisation of medicines control (ESRC, sole-supervised)
• international comparison of health promotion policies (OSI-funded, principal supervisor)
• public health provision in globalising commercial relations (ESRC, sole-supervised)
• food industry, class-differentiated diet and health (ESRC, principal supervisor)
• political sociology of counterfeit pharmaceuticals (principal supervisor)
• social class and secondary schooling in Britain (principal supervisor)
• sociology of healthy volunteer trials (ESRC, principal supervisor)
• medicalisation and pharmaceuticalisatin of dystonia (principal supervisor)

As a postgraduate, I offered and tutored interdisciplinary undergraduate courses in 'Food & Society' and 'Principles and Perspectives in Science', and a Master's course in 'Social Institution of Science'. As a Lecturer in Sociology at Reading University I designed and taught three-term courses in 'Science, Technology & Society and 'Food & Society' for advanced undergraduates as well as teaching a general course on 'Introduction to Sociology' for first years .

At Sussex, I have designed and developed undergraduate and postgraduate courses in 'Sociology of Medicine & Health', 'Medicines, Health & Development' and 'Science, Technology & Society'. In 2001, I designed an MA in Medicine & Health Studies, teaching courses in politics of medicines and political economy of health. Previously taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Principles of Sociological Analysis, Themes & Perspectives in Sociology, Issues in Development, Population & Development, Sociology of Modernisation & Development and Theories of Development.

Student Consultation

Office Hours for Summer Term 2012 are:

Fridays: 11.00-13.00.

Davis, Courtney and Abraham, John (2011) Desperately seeking cancer drugs: explaining the emergence and outcomes of accelerated pharmaceutical regulation. Sociology of Health & Illness, 33. pp. 731-47. ISSN 0141-9889

Abraham, John (2011) Evolving sociological analyses of pharmaceuticalization. Sociology of Health & Illness., 33. pp. 726-28. ISSN 0141-9889

Abraham, John and Ballinger, Rachel (2011) Power, expertise, and the limits of representative democracy: genetics as scientific progress or political legitimation in pharmaceutical risk assessment? Journal of Community Genetics, Publis. pp. 1-13. ISSN 1868-310X

Davis, Courtney and Abraham, John (2011) Rethinking Innovation Accounting in Pharmaceutical Regulation: A Case Study in the Deconstruction of Therapeutic Advance and Therapeutic Breakthrough. Science, Technology and Human values, 36 (4). pp. 791-815. ISSN 0162-2439

Davis, Courtney and Abraham, John (2011) A comparative analysis of risk management strategies in EU and US pharmaceutical regulation. Health, Risk and Society, 13. pp. 413-31. ISSN 1369-8575

Abraham, John and Ballinger, Rachel (2011) The neo-liberal regulatory state, industry interests, and the ideological penetration of scientific knowledge: deconstructing the re-definition of carcinogens in pharmaceuticals. Science, Technology & Human Values: Official Journal of the Society for Social Studies of Science.

Davis, C and Abraham, J (2011) The socio-political roots of pharmaceutical uncertainty in the evaluation of `innovative' diabetes drugs in the EU and the US. Social Science and Medicine, 72. pp. 1574-81. ISSN 0277-9536

Abraham, John (2010) The Sociological Concomitants of the Pharmaceutical Industry and Medications. In: Handbook of Medical Sociology, Sixth Edition. Vanderbilt University Press, pp. 290-309. ISBN 9780826517210

Abraham, John (2010) Pharmaceuticalization of Society in Context: Theoretical, Empirical and Health Dimensions. Sociology, 44 (4). pp. 603-622. ISSN 0038-0385

Abraham, John (2010) Les principaux défis sociopolitiques de la mise au point des produits pharmaceutiques, de leur réglementation et de la santé publique. In: Turbulences dans la chaîne des médicaments. Liber. ISBN 978-2-89578-229-2

Abraham, John (2010) On the prohibition of conflicts of interest in pharmaceutical regulation: Precautionary limits and permissive challenges. A commentary on Sismondo (66:9, 2008, 1909¿14) and O'Donovan and Lexchin. Social Science & Medicine, 70 (5). pp. 648-651. ISSN 0277-9536

Abraham, John and Davis, Courtney (2010) Discovery and Management of Adverse Drug Reactions: The Nomifensine Hypersensitivity Syndrome, 1977-1986. Social History of Medicine, 23 (1). pp. 153-173. ISSN 0951-631X

Abraham, John (2009) Book Review: Global Pharmaceuticals: Ethics, Markets, Practices, edited by Adriana Petryna, Andrew Lakoff, and Arthur Kleinman. The American Journal of Sociology, 115 (3). pp. 979-983. ISSN 0002-9602

Abraham, John (2009) Global Pharmaceuticals: Ethics, Markets, Practices. American Journal of Sociology, 115 (3). pp. 979-983. ISSN 0002-9602

Abraham, John and Davis, Courtney (2009) Drug Evaluation and the Permissive Principle: Continuities and Contradictions between Standards and Practices in Antidepressant Regulation. Social Studies of Science, 39 (4). pp. 569-598. ISSN 0306-3127

Abraham, John (2009) Global health challenges in the pharmaceutical world. Health Economics, Policy & Law, 4 (1). pp. 115-127. ISSN 1744-1331

Abraham, John (2009) The International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. In: Handbook of transnational economic governance regimes. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, pp. 1041-1053. ISBN 9789004163300

Abraham, John (2009) Partial Progress: Governing the Pharmaceutical Industry and the NHS, 1948-2008. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 34 (6). pp. 931-977. ISSN 0361-6878

Abraham, John (2009) Sociology of pharmaceuticals development and regulation: a realist empirical research programme. In: Pharmaceuticals and Society: Critical Discourses and Debates. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 54-70. ISBN 978-1-4051-9084-8

Abraham, John (2009) The pharmaceutical industry, the state, and the NHS. In: The New Sociology of the Health Service. Routledge, pp. 99-121. ISBN 9780415455978

Davis, Courtney and Abraham, John (2009) The role of standards in understanding the modern drug regulatory period. In: Harmonizing drugs : standards in 20th-century pharmaceutical history. Glyphe. ISBN 9782358150163

Abraham, John (2008) Pupils' perceptions of setting and beyond: a response to Hallam and Ireson. British Educational Research Journal, 34 (6). pp. 855-863. ISSN 1469-3518

Abraham, John (2008) The politics and bio-ethics of regulatory trust. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 11 (4). pp. 415-426. ISSN 1386-7423

Abraham, John (2008) Sociology of pharmaceutical development and regulation: a realist empirical research programme. Sociology of Health & Illness, 30 (6). pp. 869-885. ISSN 0141-9889

Abraham, John (2008) Back to the Future on Gender and Anti-School Boys: a response to Jeffrey Smith. Gender & Education, 20 (1). pp. 89-94. ISSN 0954-0253

Abraham, John (2008) Bias and science in knowledge production: implications for the politics of drug regulation. In: Power, politics, and pharmaceuticals : drug regulation in Ireland in the global context. Cork University Press, pp. 43-57. ISBN 9781859184196

Abraham, John (2008) Politics, knowledge and objectivity in sociology of education: a response to the case for 'ethical reflexivity' by Gewirtz and Cribb. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29 (5). pp. 537-548. ISSN 0142-5692

Abraham, John and Davis, Courtney (2006) Testing times: the emergence of the Practolol disaster and its challenge to British drug regulation in the modern period. Social History of Medicine, 19 (1). 21pp. ISSN 0951-631X

Abraham, John and Davis, Courtney (2005) Risking public safety: experts, the medical profession and 'acceptable' drug injury. Health, Risk and Society, 7 (4). pp. 379-95. ISSN 1369-8575

Abraham, John (2005) Regulating the drugs industry transparently. British Medical Journal, 331. pp. 528-29. ISSN 1759-215

Abraham, John and Davis, Courtney (2005) A comparative analysis of drug safety withdrawals in the UK and US: implications for current regulatory thinking and policy? Social Science & Medicine, 61 (5). pp. 881-892. ISSN 0277-9536

Abraham, John (2004) Scientific Expertise and Regulatory Decision-Making: Standards, Evidential Interpretation and Social Interests in the Pharmaceutical Sector. In: Experts in Law and Regulation. Ashgate Publishing, pp. 51-67. ISBN 978-0-7546-2401-1

Abraham, John (2004) Pharmaceuticals, the state and the global harmonisation process. Australian Health Review, 28 (2). pp. 150-160. ISSN 0156-5788

Abraham, John (2003) Learning from Drug Disasters and Reforming Medicines Regulation. Critical Public Health, 13 (3). pp. 269-279. ISSN 0958-1596

Abraham, John and Reed, Tim (2003) Reshaping the carcinogenic risk assessment of medicines: international harmonisation for drug safety, industry/regulator efficiency or both? Social Science & Medicine, 57 (2). pp. 195-204. ISSN 0277-9536

Abraham, Prof John and Lawton Smith, Dr Helen, eds. (2003) Regulation of the Pharmaceutical Industry. PALGRAVE. ISBN 9780333790441

Abraham, John (2003) The Science and Politics of Medicines Control. Drug Safety, 26 (3). pp. 135-43. ISSN 0114-5916

Abraham, John (2002) Making regulation responsive to commercial interests: streamlining drug industry watchdogs. British Medical Journal, 325 (7373). pp. 1164-69. ISSN 0959-8138

Abraham, John (2002) The Pharmaceutical Industry as Political Player. The Lancet, 360 (9344). pp. 1498-1502. ISSN 0140-6736

Abraham, John (2002) Transnational industrial power, the medical profession and the regulatory state: adverse drug reactions and the crisis over Halcion in the Netherlands and the UK. Social Science & Medicine, 55 (9). pp. 1671-1690. ISSN 0277-9536

Abraham, John (2002) A social science framework for the analysis of health technology regulation: the risks and benefits of innovative pharmaceuticals in a comparative context. Health, Risk and Society, 4 (3). pp. 305-24. ISSN 1369-8575

Abraham, John (2002) Regulatory science as culture: contested two-dimensional values at the US FDA. Science as Culture, 11 (3). pp. 309-335. ISSN 1470-1189

Abraham, John and Reed, Tim (2002) Progress, innovation and regulatory science in drug development: the politics of international standard-setting. Social Studies of Science, 32 (3). pp. 337-370. ISSN 0306-3127

Abraham, John (2002) Drug safety and the safety of patients: The challenge to medicine and health from permissive expert risk assessments of triazolam (Halcion). Health, Risk and Society, 4 (1). pp. 19-29. ISSN 1369-8575

Abraham, John and Lewis, Graham (2002) Citizenship, Medical Expertise and the Capitalist Regulatory State in Europe. Sociology, 36 (1). pp. 67-88. ISSN 0038-0385

Abraham, John (2001) The political economy of medicines regulation in Britain. In: The Regulation of Science and Technology. Palgrave, pp. 221-263. ISBN 9780333790458

Abraham, John (2001) Accuracy, Critique and the Anti-Tribes in Sociology of Education: A Reply to Sara Delamont's `Anomalous Beasts¿. Sociology, 35 (2). pp. 561-74. ISSN 0038-0385

Abraham, John (2001) The creation of neo-liberal corporate bias in transnational medicines control: The industrial shaping and interest dynamics of the European regulatory state. European Journal of Political Research, 39 (1). pp. 53-80. ISSN 0304-4130

Abraham, John (2001) Trading risks for markets: the international harmonisation of pharmaceuticals regulation. Health, Risk and Society, 3 (1). pp. 113-28. ISSN 1369-8575

Abraham, John and Lewis, Graham (2000) Regulating Medicines in Europe: Competition Expertise and Public Health. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-20877-2

Abraham, John (1999) The Therapeutic Nightmare: The Battle Over the World's Most Controversial Sleeping Pill. Earthscan. ISBN 978-1-85383-552-0

Abraham, John (1995) Science, politics and the pharmaceutical industry: controversy and bias in drug regulation. UCL/St Martins Press. ISBN 978-1-85728-199-6

Abraham, John (1995) Divide and school: gender & class dynamics in comprehensive education. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0750703901

Abraham, John (1991) Food and Development: The Political Economy of Hunger and the Modern Diet. Kogan Page. ISBN 9780749405410

Millstone, Erik and Abraham, John (1988) Additives: A Guide for Everyone. Penguin. ISBN 9780140512236