Scientific Days 2025
The 7th Scientific Days of the French National Platform for End-of-Life Research, multidisciplinary meetings where researchers and clinicians can exchange ideas and present their work, were held on December 15–16, 2025, in Paris.
After a first day dedicated to young researchers, Tuesday’s program was organized around three thematic sessions: “Suicide at the End-of-Life”, “Law and End-of-Life Research”, and “Pediatrics”.
Introduction
Opening Remarks
Régis AUBRY, coordinator of the Interdisciplinary End-of-Life Research Program
Sarah CARVALLO, co-chair of the French National Platform for End-of-Life Research
Franck MOUTHON, executive director of the Agence de programmes de recherche en santé
Keynote speakers
Global development of palliative care: lessons from the last decade and challenges ahead
Marie-Charlotte BOUËSSEAU, member of the Comité consultatif national d'éthique (CCNE), researcher associated with the ATLANTES program, Global Observatory of Palliative Care, University of Navarre (Spain)
The ATLANTES project for a global observatory of palliative care: recent data and perspectives for research
Vilma TRIPODORO, PhD in palliative medicine, researcher at the Culture and Society Institute, University of Navarre (Spain).
Thematic session 1: Suicides at the End-of-Life
Distress and Suicide Among Older Adults: A Sociological Perspective
Ingrid VOLÉRY, Professor of Sociology at the University of Lorraine, Territoire, travail, âge et santé (TETRAS) laboratory.
Frédéric BALARD, senior lecturer at the University of Lorraine, TETRAS laboratory.
A suicide, suicides? Reflections on assisted dying and "ordinary" suicide
Laurent MICHAUD, Privat-Docent and master of teaching and clinical research, senior physician at the liaison psychiatry service, department of psychiatry, Center hospitalier universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
Experiencing bereavement in the context of assisted death: a psychological perspective
Deborah UMMEL, PhD, psychologist and associate professor, Institut de psychologie de l'Université de Lausanne (Switzerland) and Département de psychoéducation de l'Université de Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada).
Thematic session 2: Research, law and the End-of-Life
Comparative law to the rescue of End-of-Life research
Guillaume ROUSSET, professor of law at Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, director of the Centre de recherche en droit et management des services (CRDMS) and member of the Institut de formation et de recherche sur les organisations sanitaires et sociales (IFROSS).
The effect of fundamental rights on aid in dying
Xavier BIOY, Associate Professor of Public Law, Vice-Dean of the Toulouse Law School, Université Toulouse Capitole
Thematic session 3: Pediatrics
Complexity in pediatric palliative care: insights from the medical perspective and associated issues
Victoria CORVEST, hospital physician in charge of the intra- and extra-hospital pediatric palliative care mobile team in the canton of Vaud (Switzerland).
Exploring Autonomy, Judgment, and Minors’ Will in Palliative Care: The French Context, 2024
Florence JOUNIS-JAHAN, infirmière-puéricultrice au sein de l'ONDINE, équipe ressource régionale de soins palliatifs pédiatriques (ERRSPP) Pays de la Loire au CHU de Nantes, vice-president of the Société française de soins palliatifs pédiatriques (2SPP)
The importance of naming in the interaction between patients, caregivers and carers in the context of perinatal bereavement
Giuditta CALIENDO, maître de conférences HDR at the University of Lille and the Savoir, textes, langage (STL) UMR 8163 - CNRS, University of Lille laboratory.
Catherine RUCHON, research associate at the Savoir, textes, langage (STL) UMR 8163 - CNRS, Université de Lille laboratory.
1See bottom of page for bibliographic references to this presentation.
Discussion and conclusion
Updates and Perspectives of the French National Platform for End-of-Life Research
Aurore PERNIN, head of the French National Platform for End-of-Life Research.
Closing remarks
Vincent VAUCHEL, Deputy Head of Division, Research and Innovation Unit, General Directorate for Healthcare Provision (DGOS), Ministry of Health, Families, Autonomy and the Disabled.
The presentation by Guiditta CALIENDO and Catherine RUCHON presents the work of the PERINAT team (https://perinat.univ-lille.fr). Data and slides are taken from the following papers and publications:
Caliendo, G., / Marinato, L. (submitted). Communication Ethics and the Discourses Surrounding Perinatal Death. Communication and Medicine. (Examples from interviews)
Lemmens M., Caliendo G., Romano, R. (in preparation). 'Disallowed identities' and what to call them. A questionnaire-based analysis of neologisms surrounding perinatal death. CogniTextes. (statistical data from questionnaire)
Foubert O., Caliendo G., "Neologising parenthood: on the linguistic construction of bereaved parents' identity", Colloquium Language Thought and Society: an exploration of identities through Cognitive Linguistics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, March 15-16, 2025. (statistical data from questionnaire).
Marinato L., Caliendo G., 2023 "Communication ethics and the discourse on perinatal death". 21st International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Communication, Medicine, and Ethics (COMET), University of Cork, Ireland. june 20-22, 2023. (Examples from the French corpus).
Caliendo G., Lemmens M., M. Iannario, G. Schiavottiello, C. Stellato "Disallowed identities and what to call them: statistical models for the linguistic analysis of neologisms surrounding perinatal death". Colloquium Languaging Diversity 2023, University of Turin. december 14-16, 2023. (Statistical data from questionnaire).
Caliendo, G. / Ruchon, C. (2020). Naming deceased infants and their parents. From situated discourse analysis to intervention linguistics. SHS Web of Conferences 78, 01019 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf /20207801019. (nomination)