Professor Frank Stahnisch
Affiliations
Professor
Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Community Health Sciences
Alberta Medical Foundation/Hannah Professorship in the History of Medicine and Health Care
Cumming School of Medicine
Professor
Adjunct Professor
Full Member
Hotchkiss Brain Institute
Full Member
Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education
Full Member
O'Brien Institute for Public Health
Contact information
Phone number
Office: +1 (403) 210-6290
Office: +1 (403) 220-6424
Location
Department of Community Health Sciences: CWPH Building3E41
Department of History: Social Sciences BuildingSS606
For media enquiries, contact
Preferred method of communication
Email: fwstahni@ucalgary.ca
I'm looking for...
Learning opportunities
Graduate Students (Master's and PhDs) and PostDocs (external funding)
Background
Educational Background
Doctor of Philosophy History of Medicine, Humboldt University, 2001
Doctor of Medicine Human Medicine, Free University (West Berlin), 1998
M.S. Philosophy of Science, University of Edinburgh, 1995
B.A. Philosophy, J. W. Goethe University, 1992
Biography
(AMF/Hannah Professorship in the History of Medicine and Health Care)
As a historian of medicine and health care, Frank's interests span the development of experimental physiology and laboratory medicine since the late 18th century (particularly France and Germany), the historical relationship between neurology/the neurosciences and the philosophy of the mind (focus on the German-speaking countries and North America), the relationship between clinical neuroscience and public mental health (particularly Canada and the United States), the historical epistemology of the life sciences (18th to 21st centuries), and the longer history of visualization practices in medicine and health care. His current research as a Principle Investigator has been supported by research grants from SSHRC, CIHR, AvH, NSHRF, AMS, and AHRF.
Since 2015 he has succeeded Professor Malcolm Macmillan (University of Melbourne, Australia) as Editor-in-Chief of the international "Journal of the History of the Neurosciences" (with Taylor & Francis - Routledge Group).
Frank W. Stahnisch is an Editor-in-Chief of the international "Journal of the History of the Neurosciences", which is the official journal of the International Society for the History of the Neurosciences (ISHN) and the History Committee of the World Federation of Neurology (WFR). This journal is a flagship journal in the wider field of the history of neuroscience, psychiatry, and public mental health. Frank envisages his role as Editor-in-Chief, as to encourage broader scholarly uptake in the history and philosophy of neuroscience, the cultural historical exploration of neuroscientific concepts, institutions, and practices, along with the comparative aspects of neuroscientific research and clinical work in different cultural and international settings.
Research
Areas of Research
Scientific, medical, and technological progress is relentless and has become ever so rapid. As such, the conditions for a social and contextual understanding of science’s implications for humanity and its place in society are changing rapidly as well. Furthermore, new inventions, discoveries, and theories have a significant impact on the way we understand the facts, products, and processes developed by past and recent scientists, engineers, and physicians. In a current political “post-factual climate” (which became even more viral during the past two Covid-19 years) it is absolutely vital to realize that this constantly changing field needs in-depth analyses and examinations to grasp the magnitude of today’s challenges. More complex science needs more in-depth humanities scholarship. When viewing instances of social debates, legal and military conflicts, it becomes imperative to likewise unearth the cultural origins of scientific discoveries, as these pertain to issues regarding group participation and impacts, community benefits, and equitable access to new scientific products. Science, technology, and medicine are usually seen as the main fields where contemporary societies place their hopes for a better future. However, as examples in the past and present have shown, science, technology and medicine have not always been used in completely positive ways (e.g. environmental issues, military conflicts, postcolonial dependencies, etc.), while the public’s relationship to innovations and scientific practices remains a complex issue.
Conveners:
Dr. Frank W. Stahnisch (AMF/Hannah Professorship in the History of Medicine and Health Care), fwstahni@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Glenn Dolphin (Tamaratt Chair, Science Education and Teaching, Faculty of Science), glenn.dolphin@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Lesley Bolton (Instructor, Department of Classics and Religion), labolton@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Jesse L. Hendrikse (Instructor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine), jlhendri@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Gregor Wolbring (Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Community Health Sciences, Stream Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies), gwolbrin@ucalgary.ca
https://www.ucalgary.ca/labs/centre-science-technology-environment-medicine-studies
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| HTST493.39 | History of Medicine and Health Care II | Winter 2025 |
| HTST476 | History of Modern Biomedicine | Fall 2024 |
| HTST493.38 | History of Medicine and Health Care I | Fall 2024 |
| HTST 63905 SEC 01 S01 | Topics in Hist of Science | 2023 |
| HTST 49338 LEC 01 01 | Topics in History | 2023 |
| HTST 54105 SEC 01 S01 | Topics in the Hist of Science | 2023 |
| HTST 49339 LEC 01 01 | Topics in History | 2023 |
| HTST 49338 LEC 01 01 | Topics in History | 2022 |
| HTST 49339 LEC 01 01 | Topics in History | 2022 |
| HTST 54104 SEC 01 S01 | Topics in History | 2022 |
| HTST 54102 SEC 01 S01 | Topics in the Hist of Science | 2021 |
| HTST 69125 LEC 02 02 | Conference Course in Spec Top | 2021 |
| HTST 49398 LEC 01 01 | Topics in History - Medicine | 2021 |
| HTST 49339 LEC 01 01 | Topics in History | 2021 |
| ASHA 501 LEC 01 01 | The Nature of Research | 2020 |
| HTST 49399 LEC 01 01 | Topics in History - Medicine | 2020 |
| HTST 49338 LEC 01 01 | Topics in History | 2020 |
Projects
Annual Fellowship at the Calgary Institute for the Humanities:
In the history of science scholarship, the ‘Brain Gain Thesis’ is often taken as an unquestioned given in studies of the forced migration of physicians and medical researchers following the Nazis’ rise to power in Germany after 1933. Research literature on the receiving countries has primarily tended to take the intellectual, academic, and institutional dimensions of the forced migration wave into account, while the individual fate and adaptation problems of many émigré psychiatrists and neurologists are still considerably under-investigated. In this project, I thus want to look at the fate of a group of émigré physicians and researchers, who could be classified as early “neuroscientists” and who immigrated to Canada and the US either transitionally or for good. The thesis put forward here is that the process of forced migration most often constituted an end or at least a drastic change to the careers of this group of medical professionals.
Awards
- Research Fellow-in-Residence, Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies, University of Calgary. 2025
- Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. 2024
- Award for Pursuing Meaningful Research -- Changing the Relationship between History & Medicine, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary. 2023
- Humboldt Research Fellowship 2023, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. 2023
- Follower-Up of the 2022 Outstanding Book Award in the History of Neuroscience, International Society for the History of the Neurosciences. 2022
- Committee Recommendation for Renewal for Fourth Term, AMF/Hannah Professorship in the History of Medicine and Health Care. 2022
- Jason A. Hannah Medal in the History of Medicine, Royal Society of Canada. 2021
- Research Award in the Established Scholar Category, Faculty of Arts, University of Calgary. 2021
- Annual Fellow, Calgary Institute for the Humanities. 2021
- Associate Editor (History & Philosophy of Behavioral Neuroscience), Frontiers in Psychology. 2021
- #Great Supervisor Award for Graduate Supervision, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Calgary. 2020
- Dimitrije Pivnicki Award in Neuro and Psychiatric History, McGill University. 2020
- Nominated Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. 2018
- Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin. 2017
- Committee Recommendation for Renewal for Third Term, AMF/Hannah Professorship in the History of Medicine and Health Care. 2017
- Education Award -- Neuro421 Course History, Ethics and Society, HBI's Department of Neuroscience, University of Calgary. 2017
- Promotion to Full Profesor, University of Calgary. 2016
- Rhea and Louis D. Boshes Lectureship in the History of Neurology, University of Illinois at Chicago. 2016
- Sebastian K. Littmann Keynote Lecture, Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary. 2015
- Editor in Chief, Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 2015
- Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Leadership in Health Care and Medicine Lecture, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida. 2015
- Tenure Award, University of Calgary. 2014
- Innovative Teaching Award, British Society for the History of Science. 2012
- Vice-President, Alberta Medical Foundation. 2012
- Committee Recommendation for Renewal for Second Term, AMF/Hannah Professorship in the History of Medicine and Health Care. 2012
- Marie Louise Nickerson Award in Neuro-History, McGill University. 2012
- Presidential Lecture , International Society for the History of the Neurosciences. 2011
- President, International Society for the History of the Neurosciences. 2010
- Humboldt Research Fellowship 2010, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. 2010
- Klaus Reicher Prize in Medical Philosophy, Literary Society Karlsruhe. 2009
- Associated Medical Services Lecture in the History of Medicine, University of Alberta. 2009
- Listed in: Who is Who in North Amercian Higher Education, Biltmore Who is Who. 2009
- Inauguration in Endowed Research Professorship, AMF/Hannah Professsorship in the History of Medicine and Health Care. 2008
- H. Richard Tyler Award, American Academy of Neurology. 2007
- John J. Pisano Award, National Institutes of Health. 2007
- Feodor Lynen Fellowship 2006-2008, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. 2006
- Research Fellowship, Foundation Weimar Classics and Art-Collections, Germany. 2004
- Mutual Award for Innovative Teaching -- Medicine-Week at the FAU Faculty of Economic & Social Sciences, Savings Bank Nuernberg, Germany. 2003
- Shortlist ("Ideas in Action") for the DGGMNT-Young Scholars' Prize, German Society for the History of Medicine, Science, and Technology, Wittenberg, Germany. 2002
- AiP-Fellowship by the Committee of Research and Education, Berlin Medical Faculty and Charité Hospital, Germany. 2000
- Scholarship of the Oskar-Hertwig-Centre, Berlin Medical Faculty and Charité Hospital, Germany. 1999
- Erasmus Scholarship, European Union, Brussels, EU. 1998
- Commendation, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. 1995
- Scholarship to Study Abroad, German Ministry of Education and Research. 1994
Publications
- “Morphological Research Directions at Neuroscience-Related Institutes of the German Max Planck Society, 1948-2002." . Frank W. Stahnisch. Anatomia. 31. (2024)
- "The Hospital as a Beacon of Science? Parisian Academic Medicine around 1800." . Frank W. Stahnisch. Histories. 24. (2024)
- “The Meandering Course from Psycholinguistics to Cognitive Science and Neuroimaging: The Organization of (Inter-) Disciplinary Research in the History of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.” . Frank W. Stahnisch. Human Arenas. 28. (2024)
- "Assessing Kurt Goldstein’s Lasting Influence in the Neuropsychology of Language versus His Use of Aphasic Symptoms as Diagnostic Insights into Brain Injuries.”. Frank W. Stahnisch. Frontiers in Psychology. 14. (2024)
- "Urbanization, Bourgeois Culture, and the Institutionalization of the Frankfurt Neurological Institute by Ludwig Edinger (1855–1918).” . Frank W. Stahnisch. Histories. 17. (2024)
- "Émigré Neurophysiologists’ Situated Knowledge Economies and their Roles in the Forming International Cultures of Scientific Excellence.". Frank W. Stahnisch. The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science. 23. (2024)
- "Making Medical History Relevant to Medical Students: The First 50 Years of Conferences." the Calgary History of Medicine Program and History of Medicine Days . Frank W. Stahnisch. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. 17. (2023)
- "Neuroscience Research in the Max-Planck-Society, 1948–2002 and a Broken Relationship to the Past: Some Legacies of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Society after 1948” . Frank W. Stahnisch. Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 39. (2023)
- "Neuroscience History Interview with Professor Bert Sakmann, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (1991), Max Planck Society, Germany.” . B Sakmann and Frank W. Stahnisch. Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 19. (2023)
- “On the History of Neuroscience Research in the Max Planck Society, 1948-2002 – German, European, and Trans-Atlantic Perspectives – Introduction”.. F. Schmaltz, Frank W. Stahnisch and S. Topp. Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 9. (2023)
- "A New Field in Mind: A History of Interdisciplinarity in Early Brain Science”. Series Editors: Jim T. H. Connor and Erika Dyck. McGill-Queen’s/Associated Medical Services Studies in the History of Medicine, Health, and Society . 600. (2020)
- “Creating the Future of Health: The History of the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, 1967-2012”.. R. Lampard, D. Hogan, Frank W. Stahnisch. University of Calgary Press. 420. (2021)
- "Psychiatry and the Legacies of Eugenics: Historical Perspectives on Alberta and Beyond”. Frank W. Stahnisch and E. Kurbegovic (eds.). Athabasca University Press. 412. (2020)
- “Bedside and Community: 50 Years of Contributions to the Health of Albertans from the University of Calgary” . D. J. Mansell, Frank W. Stahnisch. University of Calgary Press. 242. (2021)
- “Medicine, Life and Function: Experimental Strategies and Medical Modernity at the Intersection of Pathology and Physiology” . Series Editor: Chr. Hoffstadt. Aspects of Medical Philosophy Series,. 251. (2012)
In the News
- Frank Stahnisch presents at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. University of Calgary News. (2025)
- Dr. Frank W. Stahnisch gives paper at Harvard Medical School. University of Calgary News. (2024)
- Frank W. Stahnisch, MD, MSc, PhD, is named a 2024 Honorary Fellow of the Royal College. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. (2024)
- Dr. Frank W. Stahnisch presents at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. University of Calgary News. (2023)
- Frank Stahnisch presented to the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK. Royal College of Psychiatry (UK). (2022)
- UCalgary History's Frank W. Stahnisch receives book award. University of Calgary News. (2022)
- Jason A. Hannah Medal - Medical historian Frank W. Stahnisch recognized by Royal Society of Canada. Education News Canada. (2021)
More Information
Graduate & Postdoctoral Students and Books
Maggie has graduated from the University of Calgary with two B.A.s, where she developed excellent research and communication skills. Her Bachelor of Arts, History (honours) was based on a written thesis exploring the media representations of the eugenics programs in Fascist Italy during the 1930s, while she also received a B.A. in Communications & Media Studies (with distinction). It is her goal to continue to work and learn in fields that enhance her skills within these areas. Her current M.Sc. project addresses “Prejudice, Power, Public Health & The Imperial Order Daughters of The Empire: The Role of Authoritative Discourse within IODE Public Health Initiatives, 1920-1970” (working title).
Stephen Pow (PhD, Central European University, Budapest and Vienna, 2020) is a historian of pre-modern Europe and Asia. He has published extensively on a diverse range of related topics such as health care and disease in the Mongol Empire. He has written articles on the background role of epidemics and environmental factors in historical events, and has produced articles on nineteenth- and twentieth-century history of medicine in diverse journals (Journal of Medical Biography, Journal of Neurology, Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, etc.). He is currently adjunct professor in the history of science at St. Mary’s University in Calgary.
Stephen's postdoctoral project "The Global Challenge of Cholera in the Nineteenth Century: Standard Narratives and New Perspectives on Societal Responses and Medical Notions" brings together trends in public health, environmental, and Asian history, while strengthening new methodological insights and approaches. Cholera pandemics triggered worldwide panic in the nineteenth century. Based on historical research, the project highlights how globalization trends brought new challenges in containing cholera. Military campaigns, mass migrations, pilgrimages, and urbanization extended the pathogen’s range and devastation. Environmental disasters likewise contributed to nineteenth-century outbreaks. It also offers novel reappraisals of long-held assumptions on cholera’s history by highlighting recorded statements and policies in Europe, Persia, etc. that demonstrate some physicians believed water had a role in the transmission of cholera before John Snow's seminal publication (1854) based on the Broad Street Pump episode.
His research interests include the history of epidemics, public health, and diseases from the Medieval Period to the 19th century.
Aaron Clift was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of the Community Health Sciences, where he worked on a project concerning the public debate around fluoridation in five Canadian cities. He was particularly interested in the intersection of politics and public health throughout modern history. Dr. Clift received a Bachelor’s degree in History & Political Science from the University of Victoria in 2016, followed by a Master’s in History from the University of Toronto in 2017 and a Doctorate from the University of Oxford in 2022. His project “Preparation for Transforming Oral Health Prevention throughout Canada: Two Historical Studies” was co-supervised with Dr. Juliet Guichon and examined why and how water fluoridation ceased in five Canadian municipalities (Calgary, Kingston, Regina, Quebec City and Windsor) and why and how it has been introduced or reintroduced in others (Calgary, Regina, and Windsor). Information sources included news media articles, public social media communications and fluoridation-related correspondence to elected officials from residents and others, as well as interviews with key stakeholders. Dr. Clift now teaches at the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom.
Aleksandra graduated with a PhD in History of Medicine from Oxford Brookes University in 2012. After the successful completion of her thesis entitled: “The Impact of Nazi Medical Experiments on Polish Inmates at Dachau, Auschwitz and Ravensbrück”, Aleksandra worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant on the Wellcome Trust funded Programme Grant investigating “Disputed Bodies: Subject's Narratives of Medical Research in Europe, 1940-2001” lead by Professor Paul Weindling at Oxford Brookes University. Her input involved analyzing narratives of victims of medical crimes under National Socialism, particularly Jewish men who were subjected to X-ray sterilization experiments and surgical castration at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Aleksandra presented findings of her research at various conferences and held research fellowships at Library of Congress in Washington DC, Immigration History Research Center at University of Minnesota, Institute for Contemporary History in Munich and German Historical Institute in Warsaw. Her historical research has been published widely in journals, such as Endeavour, the Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, and the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences.
Her research interests include History of Medicine, Holocaust Studies, Migration Studies, War Studies, European Studies and Gender Studies.
Matt graduated with a PhD in History of Medicine from the University of Sydney, Australia, in 2014, and has previously studied history at the Universities of New South Wales, Australia, and Canterbury, New Zealand. His thesis was entitled "The Trials of Psychedelic Medicine: LSD Psyychotherapy, Clinical Science, and Pharmaceutical Regulation in the United States, 1949-1976" and had been supervised by Professor Stephen Robertson at the University of Sydney. Matt's research has investigated the history of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) psychotherapy in the United States between 1949 and 1976. He has been particularly interested in contextualizing clinical research on LSD within the changing scientific standards and regulatory frameworks for pharmaceutical research and development in the period, in order to better explain LSD's downfall as a therapeutic tool.
Matt gave papers on his research in the Research Seminar Series, Department of History, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, the 6th Biennial Meeting of the Alcohol and Drug History Society, Buffalo, New York, USA, and the History Postgraduate Conference, University of Sydney, Australia, as well as the American Association for the History of Medicine and the Canadian Society for the History of Medicine.
Preliminary findings of his research appeared as a peer-reviewed journal article: “Efficacy and Enlightenment: LSD Psychotherapy and the Drug Amendments of 1962,” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 69, no. 2 (2014), pp. 221-250, and a book manuscript based on his Calgary AMS-funded PostDoc is under contract with Johns Hopkins University Press in Baltimore, MD, USA.
His research interests include History of Medicine, History of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Pharmaceutical History, History of Fascism, European History, and the History of the British Empire.
Will graduated with a PhD from the University of Calgary with a thesis looking at "Medicine and Obedience: Canadian Army Morale, and Surveillance in the Second World War, 1939-1945." Before he joined UofC's graduate history program, he had been granted his Maters of Arts from the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, and in 2008 he received his B.A. in History for the University of Victoria in British Columbia. Since 2014, he has worked as a Sessional Instructor in History at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta.
Dr. Pratt's research interests include Canadian History, Military History, and the History of Psychiatry. As an AMS PostDoctoral Fellow, he has undertaken a research project on "Veterans' Mental Health in Alberta, 1914-1945."
His historical research has been published widely, for example in the journals Western Humanities Review, Canadian Military History, and the Calgary Papers in Military and Strategic Studies.
Fedir graduated in Translation Studies and Philology (Master of Arts, Hons.) from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine), and in Culture Studies and European History (joint M.A.) from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands) and the University of Udine (Italy). His Ph.D. in the History of Medicine and Science was awarded by the University of Saskatchewan in 2018. Fedir's dissertation "Clinical Trials, Cancer, and the Emergence of Human Research Ethics in Canada, 1921-1980," received a University of Saskatchewan Graduate Dissertation Award (Doctoral) in the Fine Arts & Humanities.
Fedir's postdoctoral project "Cancer Clinical Trials in Canada and the Ethics of the Human Dignity Framework, 1971-1998" will examine to what degree the elaboration of ethical standards pertinent to clinical trials correlated with the increasing number of controlled clinical trials: from the promulgation of "Ethical Considerations in Research Involving Human Subjects" by the Medical Research Council of Canada to the adoption of clinical trials from a biomedical research paradigm to a patient-centred comprehensive investigation model. Fedir has presented his research at different venues in Canada (University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, University of Calgary) and internationally (University of Uppsala, University of Cincinnati, University of California at Los Angeles). His publications have appeared in the Canadian Bulletin of Medical History and the Canadian Journal of History.
His research interests include the history of medicine and science and its several sub-fields: human subject research and clinical trials, cancer treatment and investigation, medical and research ethics, technology in oncology, organization of institutions for treatment and investigation, governance of medical research and its legal foundations. Geographically and temporally, Fedir's research focuses on Europe and North America since the eighteenth century.
Lampard, J. Robert, Hogan, David B., Stahnisch, Frank W. and Wright, James R. Jr.. Creating the Future of Health: The History of the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, 1967-2012 Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2021. 376 pp. Print.
Stahnisch, Frank W.. A New Field in Mind - A History of Interdisciplinarity in the Early Brain Sciences Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 2020. 600 pp. Print.
Stahnisch, Frank W.. Medicine, Life and Function -- Experimental Strategies and Medical Modernity at the Intersection of Pathology and Physiology Bochum and Freiburg: Projektverlag, 2012. 251 pp. Print.
Stahnisch, Frank W.. Ideas in Action: Der Funktionsbegriff und seine methodologische Rolle im Forschungsprogramm des Experimentalphysiologen François Magendie (1783-1855) Muenster, Hamburg, Berlin, London: LIT Press, 2003. 296 pp. Print.
Are you the profile owner?
Login to edit.