The Body, Illness and Partial Disability

Dr. hab. Michał Skrzypek MD, PhD – practicing diabetologist, medical sociologist, member of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Rural Health in Lublin. Received his habilitation from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, PhD degree received from the Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lublin. In the years 2001–2016, he reactivated lectures on medical sociology at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. Has also lectured on medical sociology at the Medical University of Lublin and Warsaw University. He was elected chairman of the national Section of Health and Medicine Sociology of the PTS (two terms), appointed several times as a member of the NCN Expert Team. Author and co-author of 158 publications with an IF value of 56.8, author and editor/co-editor of 6 sociomedical monographs, as well as 2 books in the field of health sciences and obesitology. Has organized and co-organized numerous conferences and scientific sessions with a sociomedical profile, including the Jubilee Scientific Session “50 lat socjologii medycyny w Polsce – nurty badawcze, najważniejsze osiągnięcia, perspektywy rozwoju,” as well as two sociomedical sessions as part of the National Sociological Congresses. In his research he has addressed issues of the social aspects of chronic illness, as well as the social aspects of overweight and obesity. His professional activity is currently focused on medical practice.

Dr. Katarzyna Kowal – assistant professor at Władysław Biegański Collegium Medicum of Jan Długosz University in Czestochowa. In her scientific and research work, she consistently uses the strategy of qualitative research, in the implementation of which she refers to grounded theory, phenomenology, and biographical analyses. The scope of her conducted research is determined by three sociological subdisciplines: the sociology of health, illness, and medicine; sociology of the body; and qualitative sociology. Author of the monograph entitled Między altruizmem a egoizmem. Społeczno-kulturowe uwarunkowania przeszczepów rodzinnych and several dozen scientific publications in both Polish and English. Her papers have been presented during over thirty national and international scientific conferences with both sociological and medical profiles. She is the author of numerous sociomedical research projects, carried out in cooperation with scientific institutions, medical centers and patient associations. In 2019, she obtained funding from the National Science Center for the implementation of the scientific activity entitled „Rzadka choroba genetyczna w doświadczeniu chorego – socjosomatyczne studium nerwiakowłókniakowatości typu 1.” Co-founder of the Section of Sociology of the Body of the Polish Sociological Association and winner of the Anselm Strauss Award established by the Section of Qualitative Sociology and Symbolic Interactionism of the Polish Sociological Association.