Juan R. Coca

Universidad de Valladolid | UVA

Biosocial studies encompass a set of approaches constituted by the space of knowledge generated by the interaction between biology and sociology. This space takes us back to the beginnings of social studies where biology and social sciences walked side by side. At present, these studies are being revitalised. For this reason, we want to contribute at Societies to strengthening this discipline and its research. When we conceive of biosocial research, we automatically think of medicine. However, the relationship between genetics and society, epigenetics, social evolution, the environment and the social, etc. can also be present in this field of study. In short, biosocial study is a diverse and plural set of approaches of great interest and relevance for today's world. In this Topic, we want to bring together the best international biosocial research. For this reason, we hope to feature the work of social scientists interested and concerned with the environment, health, diseases, biology, disability, old age, climate and energies in their relation to society. All these approaches also need a broad methodological perspective, so the issue is open to theoretical and empirical (quantitative and qualitative) work. We believe that studies of a conceptual nature with future hypotheses would also be of great interest. This issue aims to advance biosocial studies from a broad and diversified approach. Biosocial study helps us to better understand the surrounding reality. This is apparnt is we consider, for a moment, the numerous studies on SARS-CoV-2, or the possibilities that the social sciences offer to biomedicine or the science of care. On the other hand, we would like this issue to help biologists understand that the social sciences can help and complement their research. All in all, this is an exciting and thought-provoking Topic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated many social transformations in industry, especially presenting a major challenge to the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry has taken on many challenges from which we can learn. The pandemic, among many other factors, has led to different organizational models, changes in innovation strategies, changes in production models, and transformations in occupational risk prevention. The healthcare industry has had to respond quickly to all this, with the development of vaccines, conversion of non-healthcare companies into healthcare-related companies, etc.

For this reason, the aim of this Special Issue is to understand how the biosocial transformations generated by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have affected this industrial sector. We are interested in knowing if innovations have been generated, if the pandemic has meant changes for companies, what challenges this sector has had to face, what consequences the pandemic has generated at an organizational level or even if it has implied transformations in communication or in the culture of healthcare companies. In this Special Issue, we want to bring together quality research from different perspectives: sociology, psychology, economics, marketing, business organization, business ethics, and so on, all from a healthcare perspective.

We expect to publish theoretical, qualitative inquiries, quantitative papers, and case studies on topics similar to the following and within the scope of the Special Issue:

In this Special Issue, contributions should address the topic of the Special Issue and be an article, conceptual paper, or review.