Bjørn Hofmann

Bjørn Hofmann
Bjørn Hofmann in 2015
Born	(1964-07-20) July 20, 1964 (age 53)  Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Occupation	Professor at the Department of Health, Technology and Society at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Bjørn Morten Hofmann (born in Oslo, July 20, 1964) is a Norwegian researcher in the philosophy of medicine. Some of his main areas of interest are the relationship between epistemology and ethics, and the concepts of health, disease and overdiagnosis.

He holds appointments as professor in the Department of Health, Technology and Society at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Gjøvik and as adjunct professor in the Centre for Medical Ethics at the University of Oslo (UiO).

Hofmann received most of his training at the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH), (later integrated into NTNU), and UiO. In 1989 he received his MSc in physical electronics and biomedical technology from NTH.

He later completed a one-year foundation course in the history of ideas at UiO (1991) and an intermediate level course in philosophy at the University of Tromsø (1994).

In 2002 he received his Dr.Philos degree from UiO for his thesis entitled The technological invention of disease: On disease, technology and values.

After his studies at NTH he worked with medical technology at Lillehammer Hospital and with health applications at Telenor Research. Between 2004 and 2013 he worked as a researcher at the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services. He has been working as a professor at the University College of Gjøvik and at the University of Oslo. When the University College of Gjøvik merged with NTNU in 2016, he became a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Hofmann's academic areas of interest are basic concepts of disease, health and overdiagnosis, and unnecessary examination and treatment. He has also conducted research and disseminated topics in the areas of philosophy of medicine, medical and health research ethics, biomedical ethics, and theories of technology and technology assessment. He is often contacted by the media to comment on issues related to these subject areas.