My current research project “Lineages within genomes: situating human genetics research and contentious bio-identities in Northern South America” —funded by the Pacific Rim Research Program (PRRP) and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research—, is a multi-sited ethnography about the articulations of biological capital with emerging forms of individual and collective identity among ethnic minorities in Colombia, South America. My ethnographic analysis focuses on the research agendas of scientists studying human diversity; specifically, I care about the production, circulation, an contestation of abstractions such as “race”, “ethnicity”, “ancestry” and “admixture” (mestizaje) in the fields of biomedicine, human biology and genetics, and socio-cultural and physical anthropology.
Recent publications:
(Under review). “ ‘Gene Hunters’ and their hunters: the staging of genomic trafficking and bioethical transgressions”.
(2017). “The Guardian Professions Program: developing an advanced degree mentoring program for California’s foster care alumni”. Children and Youth Services Review 82(11): 329-336 Co-authored with: Dr. Sylvia Sensiper.
(2017). "Honor the aspirations of foster kids, youths". The Davis Enterprise (May 17): B4. Co-authored with: Dr. Sylvia Sensiper.
(2016). Lineages within genomes: situating human genetics research and contentious bio-identities in Northern South America. Davis: PhD Dissertation, Department of Anthropology / Science & Technology Studies Program (STS), University of California, Davis (UCD).
(2015). “Untangling population mixture? Genomic admixture and the idea of mestizos in Latin America”. Gene Watch 28(2): 11-12, 20-21.
(2012). “Molecular vignettes of the Colombian nation: the place(s) of race and ethnicity in networks of biocapital”. In: GIBBON, Sahra; Ricardo Ventura SANTOS and Mónica SANS (eds.), Racial Identities, Genetic Ancestry and Health in South America, pp. 41-68 New York, Palgrave Macmillan.