In the broadest sense, I am interested in the interplay of culture, science, and medicine. My more specific research interests revolve around questions concerning how biomedical education, training, specialization, and practice reproduce normative beliefs about sex/gender and sexuality. I am especially interested in how queer and trans health disparities are reproduced through biomedical practice. My work is situated at the intersection of medical anthropology, queer theory, science & technology studies (STS), and theories of practice. My research is based on ethnographic fieldwork in clinical settings and investigates how and to what effect heteronormativity is (re)produced and resisted through biomedical environments. By illuminating the institutionalization and embodiment of heteronormativity in biomedical care, I seek to help improve medical care and health research by drawing attention to the needs of those made more vulnerable by unjust social structures and environments.
Drawing from 12 months of fieldwork, my dissertation is an ethnographic study of care practices among clinicians and patients at an anal cancer prevention clinic in Chicago, USA. Anal cancer, caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV), disproportionately impacts queer and trans people, especially those living with HIV. In my dissertation, I developed a queer theory of care that troubles heteronormative logics underlying both medical care and anthropological scholarship on care. My dissertation describes the diverse forms of embodiment produced by anxieties of embarrassment and stigma that emerge around caring for/about the anus. The project puts anthropological insights on dirt/pollution, taboo, and care into conversation with queer and trans theory, especially around issues of embodiment, heteronormativity, and humor.
My earlier Master’s Thesis examined the experiences of queer medical students and argues that having a queer identity does not preclude medical students from developing a heteronormative medical gaze. A shorter paper version of my thesis findings is available in the journal Medical Anthropology Quarterly.
In the future, I will continue research around anal cancer prevention and care. Additionally, I hope to return to some of my questions around heteronormativity in biomedical education and training. And finally, I intend to push my queer theory of care beyond biomedical domains to areas including aging and “the lifecourse,” domestic care work, and friendship.