Steven Wainwright

Background

I am a qualitative (medical) sociologist with an unusual background in the social, earth and biomedical sciences and in the world outside academia.  My qualifications include: BSc (Physical) Geography (University of Hull); PGCE (University of Hull); RGN (Charing Cross Hospital, London); MSc Nursing Research (King’s College London); and PhD Sociology (King’s College London). 

I worked in intensive care (Charing Cross Hospital, London) and taught intensive care nursing (Royal Free Hospital, London) before joining King’s College London in 1995, where I held posts as Lecturer, Research Fellow, Senior Lecturer and Professor.  I worked outside academia for around 15 years between my BSc and my first post as a University Lecturer.  For instance, between my Geography degree and my Nurse training I spent two years with the electrical retailer Dixons PLC as a Graduate Management Trainee and Assistant Branch Manager.

Key Professional Activities

• 2006-2012 - Editor (one of four), of the leading international journal Sociology of Health & Illness (currently ranked 5/114 for Sociology in the world).
• 2006-2008 - Member, Associate Editorial Board of the BSA (British Sociological Association) Journal Sociology.
• 2007- Deputy Director (and Co-Founder), Centre for Biomedicine & Society (CBAS).
• 2008-2011 - Panel member, Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science & Culture GEN-AU Programme (Austrian National Genome Research Programme), Vienna, Austria.
• 2009-2012 - Associate Editor, Sociology & Bioethics, Journal of Bioethical Inquiry.
• 2009-2012 - Honorary Professor, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Australia.
• 2009-2014 Deputy Director, Wellcome Trust London & Brighton Translational Ethics Centre (LABTEC).
  

Teaching

I have developed several new degree programmes and I am currently planning a revised MSc in Medicine, Science & Society (to start 2012). I will teach sessions on all of the modules of this MSc (which will probably include courses on Medicine, Science & Society; Science & Technology Studies; Bioethics & Society; Science Policy & Society; and a Dissertation in Medicine, Science & Society). 

I also have a longstanding research interest in the history and philosophy of social science, and I expect to do some Postgraduate teaching on this.  At Undergraduate level I teach on second year courses on Research in Practice, and Social Divisions; and I convene a new third year module on the Sociology of Health & Illness.

Research Interests

I joined Brunel University London in April 2011 as Professor of Sociology, and I was previously Professor of Sociology of Medicine, Science & the Arts at King’s College London.  My current major research area focuses on new medical technologies where I blend insights from Medical Sociology and Science Studies.  However, my research interests are wide and varied. 

My research focuses on the transformation of social worlds, and explores the links between individuals and institutions and the making of professional identities.  My interdisciplinary work draws on ethnography, history and biography, spans the fields of medicine, science and the arts, and often explores the interfaces between these domains.  

Since 2000 my research has examined sociological aspects of four main areas: the arts (particularly classical ballet); the biomedical sciences (especially links between the lab and the clinic in areas like stem cell research); the philosophy and history of social science (particularly realism and the histories of sociology and geography); and the earth sciences (where I have a developing interest in climate change and in the development of geomorphology as a discipline and profession).  My research has been funded by bodies such as the Wellcome Trust and the ESRC.  

PhD Supervision

Medical Sociology; Science & Technology Studies; Sociology of the Arts; History and Philosophy of Social Science; Ethnographic and Biographical research.

Publications

Journal Papers

(2011) Wainwright, SP., Is sociology warming to climate change?, Sociology 45 (1) : 173- 177

(2009) Seale, C., Gabe, J., Wainwright, SP. and Williams, C., Editorial: Sociology of Health & Illness - New Developments., Sociology of Health & Illness 31 941- 946

(2008) Wainwright, SP., Michael, M. and Williams, C., Shifting paradigms? Reflections on regenerative medicine, embryonic stem cells and pharmaceuticals., Sociology of Health & Illness 30 (6) : 959- 974

(2008) Seale, C., Gabe, J., Wainwright, SP. and Williams, C., Editorial - Sociology of Health and Illness: a moment to reflect., Sociology of Health & Illness 655- 658

(2008) Williams, C., Wainwright, SP., Ehrich, K. and Michael, M., Human embryos as boundary objects? Some reflections on the biomedical worlds of embryonic stem cells and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, New Genetics and Society 27 (1) : 7- 18

(2008) Wainwright, SP. and Williams, C., Spaces of speech and places of performance: An outline of a geography of science approach to embryonic stem cell research and diabetes, New Genetics and Society 27 (2) : 161- 173

(2008) Cribb, A., Wainwright, SP., Williams, C., Michael, M. and Farsides, B., Towards the applied: the construction of ethical positions in stem cell translational research., Medicine, Health Care & Philosophy 11 351- 361

(2007) Sargent, S. and Wainwright, SP., Exploring patients perceived quality of life following emergency liver transplantation for acute liver failure: A qualitative study., Intensive & Critical Care Nursing 23 272- 280

(2007) Michael, M., Wainwright, SP., Williams, C., Farsides, B. and Cribb, A., From core set to assemblage: on the dynamics of exclusion and inclusion in the failure to derive beta cells from embryonic stem cells., Science Studies 20 (1) : 5- 25

(2007) Wainwright, SP., Williams, C. and Turner, BS., Globalization, habitus, and the balletic body, Cultural Studies - Critical Methodologies 7 (3) : 308- 325

(2007) Wainwright, SP., Williams, C., Michael, M., Farsides, B. and Cribb, A., Remaking the body? Scientists' genetic discourses and practices as examples of changing expectations on embryonic stem cell therapy for diabetes., New Genetics & Society 26 251- 268

(2007) Michael, M., Wainwright, SP. and Williams, C., Temporality and prudence: on stem cells as ‘phronesic things’., Configurations 13 373- 394

(2006) Wainwright, SP., Williams, C., Persaud, SJ. and Jones, PM., Real science, biological bodies and stem cells: constructing images of beta cells in the biomedical science lab., Social Theory and Health 4 (4) : 275- 298

(2006) Wainwright, SP., Williams, C., Michael, M., Farsides, B. and Cribb, A., From bench to bedside? Biomedical scientists' expectations of stem cell science as a future therapy for diabetes., Soc Sci Med 63 (8) : 2052- 2064

(2006) Wainwright, SP., Williams, C., Michael, M., Farsides, B. and Cribb, A., Ethical boundary-work in the embryonic stem cell laboratory., Sociol Health Illn 28 (6) : 732- 748

(2006) Wainwright, SP. and Turner, BS., Corps de ballet: performance, vocation et blessure chez les danseurs classiques. (Corps de ballet: Performance, vocations and injury among classical ballet dancers)., Médecine des Arts 51 30- 37

(2006) Wainwright, SP. and Turner, BS., 'Just crumbling to bits'? An exploration of the body, Ageing, injury and career in classical ballet dancers, Sociology 40 (2) : 237- 255

(2006) Sargent, S. and Wainwright, SP., Quality of life following emergency liver transplantation for acute liver failure., Nursing in Critical Care 11 168- 176

(2006) Wainwright, SP., Williams, C. and Turner, BS., Varieties of habitus and the embodiment of ballet, Qualitative Research 6 (4) : 535- 558

(2005) Wainwright, SP. and Williams, C., Culture and ageing: reflections on the arts and nursing., J Adv Nurs 52 (5) : 518- 525

(2005) Wainwright, SP. and Williams, C., Biography and vulnerability: Loss, dying and death in the Romantic paintings of JMW Turner (1775-1851), Auto/Biography 13 (1) : 16- 32 Download publication

(2005) Wainwright, SP., Can stem cells cure Parkinson’s disease? Embryonic steps toward a regenerative brain medicine., British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing 1 (3) : 61- 66

(2005) Wainwright, SP., Williams, C. and Turner, BS., Fractured identities: injury and the balletic body., Health (London) 9 (1) : 49- 66

(2005) Wainwright, SP. and Williams, C., The embodiment of vulnerability: a case study of the life of Leoš Janáček, and his opera The Makropulos Case., Body & Society 11 27- 42

(2004) Turner, BS. and Wainwright, SP., Corps de ballet: o caso dos bailarinos lesionados., Polítitica e Trabalho 20 15- 34

(2004) Wainwright, SP., Embodied vulnerability in the art of J. M. W. Turner: Representations of ageing in Romantic painting, Ageing and Society 24 (4) : 603- 616

(2004) Wainwright, SP. and Turner, BS., Epiphanies of embodiment: Injury, identity and the balletic body., Qualitative Research 4 311- 337

(2004) Wainwright, SP. and Williams, C., Giselle, madness & death, Medical Humanities 30 (2) : 79- 81

(2003) Turner, BS. and Wainwright, SP., Corps de ballet: The case of the injured ballet dancer, Sociology of Health and Illness 25 (4) : 269- 288

(2003) Wainwright, SP. and Turner, BS., Reflections on embodiment and vulnerability, Medical Humanities 29 (1) : 4- 7

(2002) Turner, BS. and Wainwright, SP., Il corpo di ballo: Uno studio dell’infortunio nella danza. (“The balletic body: A study of injury in dance”, Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia 327- 351

(2002) Day, T., Farnell, S., Haynes, S., Wainwright, SP. and Wilson-Barnett, J., Tracheal suctioning: An exploration of nurse’s knowledge and competence in acute and high dependency wards., Journal of Advanced Nursing 29 35- 45

(2001) Day, T., Wainwright, SP. and Wilson-Barnett, J., An evaluation of a teaching intervention to improve the practice of endotracheal suctioning in intensive care units., J Clin Nurs 10 (5) : 682- 696

(2001) Forbes, A. and Wainwright, SP., On the methodological, theoretical and philosophical context of health inequalities research: a critique., Soc Sci Med 53 (6) : 801- 816

(2001) Wainwright, SP., Royal Mistress: Monica Mason remembers, an interview with Steven P. Wainwright., Dance Now 10 (4) : 48- 60

(2000) Wainwright, SP. and Forbes, A., Philosophical problems with social research on health inequalities., Health Care Anal 8 (3) : 259- 277

(1999) Wainwright, SP., Fallon, M. and Gould, D., Psychosocial recovery from adult kidney transplantation: A literature review., Journal of Clinical Nursing 8 233- 245

(1997) Wainwright, SP., A new paradigm for Nursing: The potential of realism., Journal of Advanced Nursing 26 1262- 1271

(1997) Wainwright, SP. and Gould, D., Non-adherence with medications in organ transplant patients: A literature review., Journal of Advanced Nursing 26 968- 977

(1997) Fallon, M., Gould, D. and Wainwright, SP., Stress and quality of life in the renal transplant patient: A preliminary investigation, Journal of Advanced Nursing 25 (3) : 562- 570

(1997) Wainwright, SP., Transcending chronic liver disease: A qualitative study., Journal of Clinical Nursing 6 45- 53

(1996) Wainwright, SP. and Gould, D., Endotracheal suctioning in adults with severe head injury: Literature review, Intensive and Critical Care Nursing 12 (5) : 303- 308

(1996) Wainwright, SP. and Gould, D., Endotracheal suctioning: An example of the problems of relevance and rigour in clinical research., Journal of Clinical Nursing 5 390- 398

(1995) Wainwright, SP., The transformational experience of liver transplantation., Journal of Advanced Nursing 1068- 1076

(Accepted) Wainwright, SP., Science Studies in Physical Geography: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?, Progress in Physical Geography: an international review of geographical work in the natural and environmental sciences

Book Chapters

(2011) Wainwright, SP., Luna Bergere Leopold (1915-2006).. In: Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies, Volume 29.. Continuum 80- 106

(2010) Williams, C. and Wainwright, SP., Sociological reflections on ethics, embryonic stem cells and translational research. In: Capps, BJ. and Campbell, AV. eds. Contested Cells: Global Perspectives on the Stem Cell Debate,. Imperial College Press

(2009) Wainwright, SP., Michael, M. and Williams, C., Shifting paradigms? Reflections on regenerative medicine, embryonic stem cells and pharmaceuticals.. In: Gabe, J., Wiiliams, S. and Davies, P. eds. Pharmaceuticals & Society: Critical Discourses & Debates. Blackwell

(2009) Wainwright, SP., Williams, C., Michael, M. and Cribb, A., Stem cells, translational research and the sociology of science.. In: Atkinson, P., Glasner, P. and Lock, M. eds. Handbook of Genetics & Society: Mapping the New Genomic Era. Routledge

(2007) Wainwright, SP., Williams, C., Michael, M., Farsides, B. and Cribb, A., Ethical boundary-work in the embryonic stem cell laboratory.. In: de Vries, R. ed. The View from Here: Bioethics and the Social Sciences.. Blackwell

(2004) Wainwright, SP., Narratives of embodiment: Body, ageing, retirement and career in Royal Ballet dancers. In: Thomas, H. and Ahmed, J. eds. Cultural Bodies: Ethnography and Theory. Malden, USA : Blackwell

(2003) Wainwright, SP. and Turner, BS., Narratives of embodiment: Body, ageing, retirement and career in Royal Ballet dancers.. In: Thomas, H. and Ahmed, J. eds. Cultural Bodies: Ethnography and Theory. Malden, MA. USA. : Blackwell

(2003) Wainwright, SP. and Turner, BS., Ageing and the dancing body.. In: Fairclough, C. ed. Ageing bodies: Images and everyday experience. Boston : Alta Mira Press