Jacinta Victoria Syombua Muinde

Jacinta Victoria Syombua Muinde is an Associate Professor at the Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, University of Oslo. She specializes in medical anthropology with a focus on global health, economic anthropology, and development studies.

• Current projects: Epidemics and African Health Systems: Covid-19 in Kenya, Universal Health Coverage and the Public Good in Africa
• Research collaborations: ARUA-Guild CoRE on Pandemic Preparedness

Research interests:

• Intersection of health insurance and social protection systems
• Ethnographic analysis of cash transfer schemes in Kenya
• Anthropology of mental health and digital health technologies
• Gender dynamics in matrilineal kinship systems
• Post-pandemic health system transformations
• Formal/informal care networks in African contexts

Recent publications explore health policy implementation, pandemic afterlives, and welfare systems in Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Scientific honors:

• Royal Anthropological Institute's Sutasoma Award (2018)
• Audrey Richards Prize (2020)
• Commonwealth Scholarship recipient

Teaching roles: Courses in Medical Anthropology, Global Epidemics, Qualitative Methods, and Medical Studies modules.