About me
I graduated from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile with a BA (Hons) in Sociology; completed an MSc in Medical Anthropology (2014) and a PhD in Anthropology (2018) at University College London.
My scholarship engages with techno-scientific practices in cancer research and care in the UK and the USA. I look at the development and implementation of cancer technologies, such as molecular diagnostic devices, genomic risk-stratification algorithms, body-changing surgical techniques, chemotherapeutic agents and immunotherapies. I analyse the practices and temporalities that structure these domains as well as the myriad subjectivities and social effects that emerge as a result. Conceptually, I am interested in the potential of technoscientific practices for bringing about new ontological realities that redefine cancer disease categories and lived experiences vis-à-vis notions of ‘engagement’ and ‘progress’ through which British residents are persuaded to take part in biomedical developments.
Current projects include:
- Leading REPRESENT, a comparative, multidisciplinary study focused on learning from community engagement approaches to build trust and trustworthiness in early detection clinical research in the USA and the UK.
- Tracing the conditions of possibility that have enabled the emergence of multinational infrastructures for cancer detection research in the UK and the USA, exploring the social conditions for engagement and participation therein.
- Studying the development, translation, and effects of biotechnologies and biomarkers through participant observation in pre-clinical laboratories, academic forums, and clinical settings.
- Completing a book manuscript on engagement, scientific innovations and exclusions in cancer research and care, provisionally entitled Engaging in Early Detection.
My research has been funded by the Chilean National Agency for Research and Development, the Chilean Research Security Fund, the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness, Cancer Research UK, the Philomathia Foundation, and the Alliance for the Early Detection of Cancer.
Since joining the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge in 2018, I have taught a range of lectures and seminars, have co-organised academic and public events, and have been the co-investigator in a series of research grants.
My post-doctoral research, funded by the Philomathia Foundation, constituted one of the first in-depth anthropological studies of early cancer detection technologies’ scientific development and social effects. I explored the interfaces between scientists’ laboratory practices, the clinical worlds created through the translation of detection technologies, and the experiences of research participants enrolled in associated clinical trials to test those technologies.
You can read my CV here: