Prevention has a strong reputation. It is always considered good, but basically too little is done for it. This must be questioned, with special reference to the idea of ‘time’. Prevention differs from other medical interventions by its special relationship to time. It anticipates certain negatively evaluated conditions before they materialise. Prevention offers a person a specific opportunity to shape the formative temporality of his or her own life. By behaving in the present, it can prevent the occurrence of certain phenomena that do not yet exist. But what does prevention do to our lives? And what does it do with our experience of time? What happens to our lives when it is seen as a collection of risk factors that must be avoided in order to achieve the most successful quantitative extension of lifetime? These questions are becoming more relevant in the age of accelerated sciences and accelerated change in society and the living environment. 

Urban Wiesing’s collaboration partners are Prof. Dr. Philipp Osten, Debuty Head of the Institute of History and Ethics in Medicine, and Prof. Dr. Martin Scherer of the Institute of General Medicine, both at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). 

Urban Wiesing’s HIAS Fellowship is funded by the Joachim Herz Foundation.

Her research interests primarily focus on Moral Philosophy, with a special emphasis on contemporary Anglo-Saxon philosophy, Applied Ethics, Bioethics, Medical Ethics, and the impact of modern technologies on life sciences. Additionally, she explores Political Philosophy, particularly the dialogue between liberalism and communism, modern political ideologies, and the phenomenon of globalization and its diverse implications on contemporary societies. 

She has represented non-tenured staff in the Council of the Department of Classical Studies and Philosophy and served as a representative of the same department in the Council of the Philosophical School. She is a co-editor of the journal “Skepsis,” published by the International Center for Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Research, and a member of Greek and international philosophical societies. Since September 2002, she has been a member of the National Bioethics Committee of Cyprus.

Diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease, Type 1, at the age of 16, she underwent a kidney transplant from her mother at the age of 35. Following her successful transplant, she embarked on her journey in Patients Advocacy, initially in Cyprus and then at the European Union level through the European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA) and the European Kidney Patients Federation (EKPF). 

As the President of the Pan-Cyprian Organization of Nephropaths, she ensures care for patients from the early stages of the disease to the advanced stage of Chronic Kidney Disease (including transplant patients). The organization also proactively educates the public about the risks associated with kidney diseases. Furthermore, it operates five buses nationwide to transport dialysis patients to and from Dialysis Units for their essential treatments. 

Her mission is to enhance the quality of treatment methods by providing personalized therapeutic care and upgrading the services provided in all hospitals across Cyprus, with dignity and understanding as their guiding principles.