Andrea Pérez Marchant defends her thesis with an analysis of the pandemic's impact on older adults

Her research highlights the importance of European bioethical principles in the protection of vulnerable populations.

On March 10, 2025, student Andrea Pérez Marchant presented her degree exam for the Master's Degree in Bioethics, defending her thesis entitled “Older adults and the pandemic: bioethics and European principles applied to the impact of the crisis on older adults”, an evaluation that opened a space for reflection on the bioethical challenges faced by this population sector during the global health crisis.

This work represents a valuable contribution to the bioethical analysis of the pandemic, focusing on the vulnerability of older adults and the need to apply ethical and regulatory principles to improve their care and protection in future crisis scenarios. Her research incorporates European bioethical principles, offering a comparative perspective that allows for a broader analysis of health policies and the ethical dilemmas that have arisen regarding this population.

During her defense, the importance of fostering interdisciplinary dialogue was highlighted, where bioethics interacts with disciplines such as medicine, law, sociology, and public policy, to design more just and equitable strategies for managing health crises that affect the most vulnerable groups.

The review panel was composed of Samuel Weingerz Mehl, Martha Patricia Hernández, and Margarita Otero Lamas, who recognized the methodological and argumentative soundness of the work. They also highlighted the relevance of the research in the current context and the need to reflect on the lessons learned from the pandemic, especially in terms of social justice and care for the elderly. The reviewer clearly explained the relevance of her study, demonstrating how public health policies must incorporate a bioethical approach that guarantees the dignity and well-being of older adults in crisis situations.

With this defense, Andrea Pérez Marchant not only successfully completes her degree process, but her work also opens an essential debate in the bioethical field about the role of older adults in society and the need to guarantee them dignified and equitable treatment in future health crises.

Her research reaffirms the Master's in Bioethics' commitment to training professionals capable of addressing contemporary problems from an ethical, critical, and humanistic perspective. Integrating bioethics into the analysis of health crises not only allows us to understand past mistakes but also provides tools to improve future decision-making for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations.