Anthropology

Areas of Interest

My dissertation examines how the social relationships between drug users and law enforcement are transforming during the opioid epidemic. I am primarily concerned with understanding the ethical implications of the police doing public health. Specifically, this project looks at “diversion programs” whereby the police attempt to provide care to drug users rather than funnel them into the criminal justice system.

I also have an ongoing project that follows the social life of "harm reduction" interventions in Iran. This project explores how state officials, clinical staff, and drug users experience and understand “non-judgmental care” within an economic and social context that continuously violates the dignity of drug users. The larger goal of this project is to understand how global health models of care move across borders.

Previous Degrees

• B.A. in History and Arabic from Washington University in St. Louis (2012)
• M.A. in Gender and Women's Studies from The American University in Cairo (2014)