“Less Stigma, More Water: Unsung Pathways to Global Health,” guest lecture by Prof. Alexandra Brewis

The James R. Bindon Endowed Lecture in Biocultural Anthropology and Health will be delivered by Dr. Alexandra Brewis of Arizona State University, on “Less Stigma, More Water: Unsung Pathways to Global Health.”

Abstract: A biocultural approach to health purposefully theorizes and tests the mechanisms that connect macro systems, individual wellbeing, and health outcomes. I will discuss our lab group’s recent research in two domains: individual experiences of structural stigma and household experiences of water insecurity. Both are emerging as under-recognized drivers of health disparities. While mostly invisible in global health and other development efforts, they underpin many factors currently deemed important to designing health solutions. I will explore what research in places as disparate as Ethiopia, India, and Arizona is revealing about how these each work, how they interact, and how we can deploy such biocultural understandings to advance global health.

Brief Bio: Alexandra (Alex) Brewis is President’s Professor and Founding Director of the Center for Global Health at Arizona State University, an AAAS fellow, and senior editor (Medical Anthropology) for the journal Social Science and Medicine. Trained in human biology, demography, and medical anthropology, she does collaborative, transdisciplinary social science research to understand and solve complex health and environmental challenges, like water insecurity and stigma in health care. More information is available at alexbrewis.org.