Single Use Plastics in Healthcare (Title TBC)

As a practising medical doctor, with a master's degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics of Health, and previous research experience, I have a broad academic and professional training which equips me well for undertaking doctoral study within UCL Geography. My project, which examines single-use plastics in healthcare, builds on several of my intellectual preoccupations. Through my master's, I explored the political landscape in which medicine operates, as well as questions of justice related to health. My PhD will draw on this training to consider how medicine is entangled with the fossil fuel industry and is thus implicated in environmental change. On graduating from medical school, I gained a place on the Academic Foundation Programme for doctors. Through this programme, I worked as a research assistant on a randomised controlled trial investigating male infertility. This role gave me a strong foundation in quantitative research methods and research ethics, and an insight into how clinical researchers are increasingly grappling with the effect of pollutants, such as endocrine disrupting chemicals, on health. My project, which examines the ambiguity of categories of 'safe' and 'toxic', is directly informed by my clinical research. I have previously explored consumerism in healthcare in a published journal article. My PhD will build on this interest by considering how the medical plastics industry creates consumer demand by making claims to 'cleanliness'. I have also been first author and contributing author for three further journal articles and have presented work at national conferences. I have also been involved in co-ordinating and delivering peer-to-peer teaching programmes. My project, which sits at the intersection of geography, anthropology, and science and technology studies (STS), will be supervised by Prof Barry (Geography) and Dr. Tousignant (STS), and is thus suited to UCL's interdisciplinary approach. I will have further supervision from Prof Ann Kelly in King's College London Department of Global Health, and thus the project aligns with UCL's interest in fostering inter-institutional collaborations. Furthermore, the project links to the concerns of the UCL Anthropocene Research Initiative, and the UCL Health, Mind and Society initiative. These initiatives work closely together and will provide a diverse range of academic interlocutors from a variety of disciplines. In June 2022 I attended the UCL Chemical Exposures Workshop. Here I engaged with the work of academics exploring questions of toxic exposures across many contexts. This allowed me to situate my project within a broader research landscape and gave me a heightened sense that my project will address a significant research gap. Following my PhD, I intend to develop a career in academia. My interdisciplinary doctoral research, combined with my medical training, will position me well to work in several disciplines including geography, STS, and global health.