Teaching

Global health; sexual and reproductive health; chronic health conditions; gender, kinship, sexuality; globalization and development; social studies of science; ethnographic methods; project design; critical theory; feminist theory; medical anthropology; the anthropology of Asia.

Primary fields of research

The research I conduct is driven by a general interest in the social and structural forces that shape human health. In my ethnographic research I focus particularly on the ways in which domestic conditions affect people’s health and health care seeking practices. I am particularly interested in the development of theories that allow us to grasp not only the fully articulated aspects of human lives, but also the tentative, inchoate, and subdued dimensions of social existence. In this context, I draw inspiration from philosophy, psychoanalytic theory, and art.  In my latest book Haunting Images: A Cultural Account of Selective Reproduction in Vietnam (2014) I examine how new technologies for reproductive selection are used by the state as well as by individuals in Vietnam, highlighting the ways in which advancing biomedical technologies engage with long-standing patterns of attachment, dependency, and power. 

At the Department of Anthropology I am a member of the researcher group Health and Life Conditions.

Current research

I am currently responsible for the research project The Impact of Violence on Reproductive Health in Tanzania and Vietnam (2013-2018). This is an interdisciplinary project funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project is conducted in collaboration between the Department of Anthropology (University of Copenhagen), the Department of Public Health (University of Copenhagen), the Department of Clinical Research (University of Southern Denmark), Hanoi Medical University (Vietnam), and Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College (Tanzania). By combining epidemiological and ethnographic research methods we explore how violence exercised within intimate relations affects women’s sexual and reproductive health and the health of newborns. The project is carried out in Tanzania and Vietnam and places particular emphasis on enhancement of research capacity through a strengthening of interdisciplinary research skills.

I am also responsible for the research project Living Together with Chronic Disease: Informal Support for Diabetes Management in Vietnam (2018-2021). This project aims to advance research on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by providing new insights on the informal support that makes it possible (or not) for people with NCDs to manage their condition well, including making optimal use of professional health care services. As a case for addressing NCDs, the project focuses on type 2 diabetes in Vietnam. The project is conducted in Vietnam’s Thai Binh province as an academic partnership between Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy and the Universities of Copenhagen and Southern Denmark. It is carried out in close collaboration with the Danish-Vietnamese Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) project: Strengthening the Frontline Grassroots Health Worker: Prevention and Management of NCDs at the Primary Health Care Level, and with Novo Nordisk as private sector partner. The project is funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I am a member of the Editorial Board of Ethos (the journal of the Society for Psychological Anthroplogy), the Editorial Committee of Annual Review of Anthropology, the Editorial Board of Reproductive Health Matters, and an Associate Editor of Medical Anthropology.

CV

Education:
PhD in Anthropology, University of Copenhagen (1997); MA in Cultural Anthropology, University of Copenhagen (1992)

Positions:
Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen (2013-); Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen (2002-2012); Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen (1997-2002)