Background:
Background:I have a multi-disciplinary background in Human Sciences and a DPhil in biological anthropology from Oxford University. This thesis involved assessing the impact of a tropical disease, schistosomiasis, on the health and well-being of women and children in northern Sudan. Shortly after completing my DPhil in 1989 I was appointed to the post of junior lecturer in the Department of Biological Anthropology, Oxford University. I held this post for a year before taking up a lectureship in medical anthropology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Here, I developed my interest in medical anthropology by contributing to a variety of multi-disciplinary research projects on maternal and child health in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Uganda. I also became involved in a collaborative study with the World Health Organisation and the Kenyan Medical Research Institute on the measurement of health and well-being in sub-Saharan Africa.
Between 1993-1996 I undertook research at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London University. This multi-disciplinary research involved the investigation of sexual networks and HIV transmission in London, UK. I joined the Department of Human Sciences at Brunel University in 1996 and I have continued to develop my research interests in HIV and other contemporary public health problems.
PhD Supervision:
Melissa Parker welcomes applications from prospective doctoral students with interests in: the anthropology of public health, infectious diseases (especially neglected tropical diseases and HIV/AIDS); female circumcision; international development and health. Geographical areas of expertise include Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Kenya and the UK.
Research interests:
I have undertaken research on a wide range of topics in medical anthropology, including tropical health and well-being in northern Sudan, nutritional anthropology in Burkina Faso, infant and child mortality in northern Ghana, health and healing in the aftermath of war, the measurement of health-related quality of life in Kenya, sexual networks and the transmission of HIV and gonorrhoea in the UK.
Teaching:
I am convenor of the MSc in medical anthropology and this academic year I shall be convening the modules ‘anthropology and public health' and ‘introduction to ethnographic research'. I shall also be contributing to the undergraduate module ‘introduction to social anthropology'.
Selected publications:
- Parker M (in press). Re-thinking female circumcision. To be re-printed in International Law and World Order: a problem-orientated course book. Edited by Weston B.H, Falk R.A, Charlesworth, H and Strauss, A.L. West Publishing Company.
- Parker M and Harper I (guest editors) 2006. The anthropology of public health. Journal of Biosocial Science, 38(1) 1-144.
- Parker M and Harper I, 2006. The anthropology of public health: an introduction. Journal of Biosocial Science, 38(1): 1-5.
- Parker M, 2006. Core groups and the transmission of HIV: learning from male prostitutes. Journal of Biosocial Science 38(1): 117-131.
- For-Rushby J, Johnson K, Mwanza I, Amuyunzu M, Allen T and Parker M, 2005. Language and culture: moving between theory and practice in cross-cultural research. In: Advances in health outcomes, research methods, measurements, statistical analysis and clinical applications. Kluwer Academic Press
- Ellison G, Parker M and Campbell C (editors) 2003. Learning from HIV and AIDS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Parker M 2003. Anthropological reflections on HIV prevention strategies: the case for targeting London's backrooms. In: Learning from HIV and AIDS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Parker M 2001. Stuck in GUM: Life in a clap clinic. In: Inside organizations: anthropologists at work, (eds. D Gellner and E Hirsch), pp:137-156. Berg Press.
- Parker M and Wilson G 2000. Diseases of poverty. In: Poverty and Development into the 21st Century, (eds. T Allen and A Thomas), pp: 201-211. The Open University in association with Oxford University Press.
- Parker M 1999. Female circumcision and cultures of sexuality. In: Culture and Global Change, (eds. T Skelton and T Allen), pp: 201-211. London: Routledge.
- Parker M 1999. HIV transmission in urban environments: London and beyond. In: Urbanism and Human Biology in Industrialised Countries, (eds. L Schell and S Ulijaszek), pp: 280-308. Cambridge University Press.
- Parker M, Ward H and Day S 1998. Sexual networks and the transmission of HIV in London. Journal of Biosocial Science, 30 (1): 63-83.
- Parker M 1996. The mental health of war-damaged populations. Institute of Development Studies Bulletin, 27 (3): 77-85.
- Parker M 1996. Social devastation and mental health in North East Africa: reflections on an absent literature. In: In search of cool ground: war, flight and homecoming in north-east Africa, (ed. T.Allen), pp:262-273. London: James Currey.
- Parker M 1995. Rethinking female circumcision. Africa, 65 (4): 506-523.
- Parker M 1995. Living with schistosomes: adaptation, accommodation or severe ill-health? In: Human populations: diversity and adaptability, (eds. A.J.Boyce and V.Reynolds), pp: 155-173. Oxford University Press.
- Fox-Rushby J and Parker M, 1995. Culture and the measurement of health-related quality of life. Journal of European Applied Psychology, 45 (4): 257-264.
- Parker M and Fox-Rushby J 1995. International comparisons in health-related quality of life: acquiescence in academia. In: The international assessment of health related quality of life: theory, translation, measurement and analysis, (eds. S.A.Shumaker and R.Berzon), pp:153-154. Oxford: Rapid Communications of Oxford.
- Parker M 1993. Bilharzia and the boys: questioning common assumptions. Social Science and Medicine, 37 (4): 481-492
- Parker M 1992. Re-assessing disability: the impact of schistosomal infection on daily activities among women in Gezira Province, Sudan. Social Science and Medicine, 35 (7): 877-890
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