Andrea Ford

Andrea Ford is a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow in Humanities and Social Science at the Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society, Usher Institute, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh. Her interdisciplinary work bridges medical anthropology and reproductive justice, examining how gender, bodies, and technology intersect in healthcare systems with particular focus on childbearing, menstruation, and endometriosis.

Her academic credentials include a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Chicago (2017), an MA in Anthropology from the University of Chicago (2011), an MA in African Studies from the University of Ghana (2010, as Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar), and a BA in Sociology/Anthropology/Religion from UC Berkeley (2008).

Dr. Ford's research investigates the cultural politics of reproduction through ethnographic fieldwork and critical analysis of knowledge production. She explores how biomedical frameworks intersect with lived experiences of menstruation, endometriosis, and hormonal health, while actively engaging with feminist health movements and reproductive justice advocacy. Her scholarship emphasizes environmental and social determinants of health within medicalized contexts.

Her 2025 publications demonstrate concentrated scholarly engagement with reproductive healthcare systems, examining consent dynamics in birth support, endometriosis knowledge ecologies, menstrual medicalization, and hormonal narratives. These works collectively advance medical anthropology through science and technology studies frameworks, highlighting tensions between institutional medicine and embodied experience.

Major recognitions include:

• Marię Sklowdowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (2019)
• UK Young Academy membership (2022)
• Wellcome Trust Early Career Award (2023)

She currently leads a 5-year Wellcome Trust project (2024-2028) on FemTech industry dynamics and serves as co-investigator on the EU Horizon 'EUmetriosis' project (2025-2029) and a British Academy initiative on Scottish women's health. While accepting PhD students, she integrates academic scholarship with practical birth doula work to advance reproductive justice.

Based at the Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society, she collaborates with interdisciplinary teams examining biomedicine's societal implications through ethnographic research and public engagement initiatives including the AHRC Being Human Festival and media contributions like NPR's Short Wave podcast on health surveillance.