Anna Kirkland

Anna Kirkland is the Kim Lane Scheppele Collegiate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Michigan, with courtesy appointments in Sociology, Political Science, and Health Management and Policy. She also holds the Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship and previously served as Director of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (2017–2022). Her research examines intersections of health, law, and rights, particularly focusing on gender identity discrimination in healthcare and civil rights frameworks. Key contributions include her forthcoming book Health Care Civil Rights: How Discrimination Law Fails Patients (UC Press, 2025) and co-edited volumes on sociolegal studies of medicine and health. She co-leads a National Institutes of Health-funded training program on AIDS/HIV research and contributed to the National Academies’ landmark report on sexual harassment in academia.

Her research spans law and society, healthcare policy, and antidiscrimination law, addressing topics like medical necessity frameworks, transgender healthcare access, and vaccine litigation. She teaches courses on health discrimination at the law school and gender and law in Women’s and Gender Studies. Recognized as a Thurnau Professor, her work bridges legal scholarship with public health advocacy, emphasizing equity and organizational accountability.

Grants include a 5-year R25 grant from NIH and OBSSR for the Student Opportunities for AIDS/HIV Research (SOAR) initiative. She is a member of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and has authored/co-authored influential books such as Vaccine Court: The Law and Politics of Injury (2016) and Fat Rights: Dilemmas of Difference and Personhood (2008). Her recent scholarship critiques legal barriers to healthcare equity and proposes actionable frameworks for rights-based reforms.

• Key Awards: Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship
• Grants: NIH R25 training grant (2020–2025), National Academies panel contributions
• Service Roles: Former IRWG Director, NIH-funded SOAR co-PI, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation member

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on healthcare equity and sociolegal research through the SOAR program and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.