Meet the Research Team

Jill A. Fisher, Ph.D., is the principal investigator on the project. She is Professor of Social Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Fisher has been conducting research on clinical trials for nearly two decades. She is the author of Medical Research for Hire: The Political Economy of Pharmaceutical Clinical Trials (2009, Rutgers University Press) and Adverse Events: Race, Inequality, and the Testing of New Pharmaceuticals (2020, New York University Press). More information about Dr. Fisher as well as many of her publications on clinical trials can be found at her website.

Co-Investigators

Marci D. Cottingham, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. Her research has focused on the emotional labor of men in nursing and the ways in which individual men and healthcare organizations reconcile masculinity with a caring profession. Her other projects have examined the emotional dynamics of sports fandom and the emotional dimensions of risk constructions. More information about Dr. Cottingham can be found at her website.

Arlene M. Davis, RN, J.D., is Professor of Social Medicine and Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professor Davis has been examining the ethical, legal, and social issues associated with the conduct of human subjects research through a variety of research projects since the mid-1990s. Some of her most recent work has focused on healthy volunteers participating in various kinds of US biobanks. More information about Dr. Davis can be found at her website.

Velma McBride Murry, Ph.D., Betts Chair in Education and Human Development, Professor of Human and Organizational Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Her work focuses on understanding the significance of context in studies of African-American families and youth. More information about Dr. McBride Murry as well as many of her publications and current work can be found at her website.

Torin Monahan, Ph.D., is Professor of Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on institutional transformations with new technologies, with a particular emphasis on issues of power and social inequality. He also serves as Principal Investigator on the NSF-funded Platform Mediation research project. More information about Dr. Monahan as well as a list of publications and professional activities can be found at his website.

Rebecca Walker, Ph.D., is Professor of Social Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as an adjunct professor in the Department of Philosophy. Her work to date has focused on: practical virtue ethics, concepts of autonomy in bioethics, the ethics of how we treat non-human animals, the allocation of health care resources, and ethics methods. More information about Dr. Walker as well as many of her publications can be found at her website.

Research Assistants

Lisa McManus, M.S., is a research assistant on the HealthyVOICES project. She has a Ph.D. in sociology at North Carolina State University and teaches at Wake Technical Community College. Her ongoing research examines how state-level wage policies effect worker wellbeing, and race and gender wage gaps.

Project Alumni

Chandler Batchelor, B.A., was a graduate research assistant on the project while pursuing her M.A. in the UNC Literature Medicine and Culture program. In addition to the medical humanities, Chandler’s research interests focus on humanistic approaches to psychological research and practice and the treatment of antisocial personality disorder, including the stigma surrounding “deviant disorders.”

Heather B. Edelblute, Ph.D., M.P.H., was a graduate research assistant on the HealthyVOICES project. She is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health at West Chester University. Dr. Edelblute conducts research on migration and health

Rebecca Forcier, B.A., was a research assistant on the HealthyVOICES project. They are now Data Coordinator for the UNC Hospital Ethics Committee.

Julianne Kalbaugh, M.Div., was the project manager for the HealthyVOICES Project from 2014 to 2019. She has a Master of Divinity degree from Duke University with research interests in how physical environments affect our bodies and personal identities.

Elena Pinzon, M.P.H., was a graduate research assistant on the HealthyVOICES project. She is now the Learning & Evaluation Specialist at Latin American Youth Center in Washington, D.C. Elena’s research and practice interests include women’s health promotion in the US and abroad, especially among Latinas and adolescents.

Teri Swezey, Ph.D., was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Social Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked in the field of public health since receiving her doctorate in sociology and master’s degree in anthropology. Dr. Swezey is currently working at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

Arianna Taboada, M.S.W., M.S.P.H., is a public health social worker trained at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health. Her practice and research experience focus on issues of access to care among vulnerable populations, including immigrants, low-income women, adolescents, and HIV-positive individuals. A full list of Arianna’s publications can be viewed on google scholar.

Megan Wood, M.A., is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She researches the relationship between media, technology, and culture, with particular attention to issues of inequality in the contemporary conjuncture. More information about her work on topics like surveillance, authenticity, social media, and (self-)branding can be found at at her website.