Background

I specialize in cultural anthropology, applied anthropology and public policy. My current research area is the study of genetic privacy and property debates in the United States. I have a background in Latin American studies and have conducted fieldwork in Bogotá, Colombia, on urban planning, development schemes and social movements. I am currently Associate Professor of Anthropology at Portland State University, where I began teaching in 1996.

I am currently working on the ethical, legal and social issues surrounding the Human Genome Project, and specifically debates about the regulation of the use and dissemination of genetic information. After serving on two state advisory panels on genetic privacy, I published several articles about genetic privacy laws, genetic discrimination, and genetic essentialism in such journals as Social Science and Medicine, the Journal of Genetic Counseling, and Human Organization. I continue to pursue research on the medical and non-medical uses of genetic testing.

I teach a range of courses in the fields of applied anthropology, anthropological theory, medical anthropology, urban studies, and the peoples and cultures of Latin America.