LIFE B. Braun Lecture
The LIFE B. Braun Lecture is part of a collaborative initiative between the University of Lucerne and B. Braun aimed at fostering dialogue on health, functioning, and wellbeing. Each lecture brings together leading national and international experts to explore innovative, interdisciplinary perspectives on the lived experience of health. The series seeks to bridge research, policy, and practice to understand how individuals and societies can promote and sustain human wellbeing in a changing world.
The LIFE B. Braun Lectures take place twice a year and offer a platform for dialogue on pressing issues in functioning, health and wellbeing.
- The fall lecture, held in German, addresses topics of national and international relevance within the Swiss and European context.
- The spring lecture, held in English, features distinguished international speakers who present cutting-edge research on globally significant themes.
At the inaugural LIFE B. Braun Lecture at the University of Lucerne, Heidi Hanselmann, President of the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation, presented the National Strategy for Spinal Cord Injury 2025–2033. Developed collaboratively by affected persons, professionals, policymakers, and researchers, the strategy serves as a “compass” to guide care, self-determination, and participation for people with spinal cord injuries.
It defines nine action areas and 32 measures covering topics from medical follow-up and labor market integration to accessible mobility. Implementation is coordinated through a steering committee and specialized working groups involving stakeholders and people with lived experience. Hanselmann emphasized that inclusion must begin already in the planning phase and that participation is not merely a method, but an attitude that drives social change.
The lecture underscored the strategy’s goal of promoting a more inclusive Switzerland—one in which engagement from all sectors helps turn inclusion from an ideal into lived reality.
The spring edition of the LIFE B. Braun Lecture at the University of Lucerne addresses the relationship between science, public health, and democratic governance. Lawrence O. Gostin, a university professor at Georgetown University, is one of the leading experts in global health law and public health policy. In his lecture, "Science, Public Health, and Democracy," he emphasized that misinformation, political polarization, and declining trust in public institutions undermine scientific integrity and democratic stability.
Additional information and insights from the lecture can be accessed via the following link.
