Topical seminar, the 20th of April: Bárbara Castillo-Abdul and Varvara Kazhberova

23.04.2026

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A new meeting within the framework of the Topical seminar project was held on the 20th of April. The topic of the discussion delved into the current issues of health information sharing in the digital era.

Dr. Bárbara Castillo-Abdul, an Associate Professor at the University of Design, Innovation and Technology (UDIT, Spain), delivered a report entitled Apomediation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Risks and Transformations in Health Information Intermediation. Her research explored the role of artificial intelligence in reshaping the concept of "apomediation". Dr. Bárbara Castillo-Abdul has placed special emphasis on the dual nature of AI in health contexts, paying attention to both the risks and the transformative potential of these technologies. She also mentioned the rapid growth of confidence in digital health systems, which marks one of the most significant phenomena in health communication, which is developing faster than governance frameworks can keep up.

Dr. Varvara Kazhberova, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Digital Journalism and a Researcher at the Problem Research Laboratory for the Comprehensive Study of Current Journalism Issues at the Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia), in her report «Digital Risks of Media Communication in the Field of Human and Social Health: Some Aspects» covered the key patterns of the health topics coverage in Russian digital media. She addressed issues such as rapid mediatization and digitalization, personalization, a dialogic-driven concept of communication, and the desacralization of traditional professions that symbolize a paternalistic approach.

Topical seminars are of utmost importance both for the integration of national research studies into the international academic environment, and for the conceptualization of distinctive features of Russian media studies. The Faculty of Journalism hopes that the issues touched upon in the course of the events will make a significant contribution to the further scientific discussion.