Duke Cultural Anthropology

Research Description

I am interested in connections between the body, its environments, and longevity in India, specifically in the context of chronic illness in Mumbai. As India becomes increasingly portrayed as the site of an "epidemiological transition" -- a shift from infectious to chronic disease burdens said to accompany economic development -- my research questions the embodied politics of accumulation. 

I am currently working on a book project that examines the relationships forged between food, fat, the body, and the city in light of India's rising rates of obesity and diabetes. This project draws on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Mumbai's home kitchens, metabolic disorder clinics, and food companies, to better understand what have been termed India's "diseases of prosperity." 

My earlier projects have examined the development of corporatized medical care in Indian cities and its manifestation as "medical tourism," and the politics of language in India's HIV treatment clinical trials. 

I situate both my research and teaching at the interdisciplinary intersections of medical anthropology, South Asian studies, science and technology studies, global health, and food studies. Prior to anthropology, I studied linguistics and global public health, and worked on reproductive health and HIV policy.