Ayo Wahlberg

Ayo Wahlberg is Professor and Head of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Social Sciences. He has held key academic and leadership roles since joining the university, including Deputy Head (2018–2022) and Head of Department (2023–ongoing). His research is deeply interdisciplinary, bridging medical anthropology, science and technology studies (STS), and the social study of biomedicine.

• PhD in Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science (awarded 2007)
• MSc and BSc in Social Science & International Development Studies, Roskilde University, Denmark (1995–2001)

His research centers on the intersections of technoscience, health, and everyday life. Major themes include fertility exhaustion, chronic living, selective reproduction, and the modernization of traditional herbal medicine. His work often employs assemblage ethnography to analyze how laws, institutions, and expertise shape lived experiences. He led the ERC-funded VITAL project (2015–2021) on quality of life and chronic illness across Denmark, South Korea, Austria, and Turkey. His current research explores falling fertility rates and the societal impacts of genetic predisposition in welfare states.

His 15 most recent publications span topics from long COVID and cancer surveillance to embryo editing and diabetes self-management. These works reflect a consistent focus on the entanglement of medical technologies, governance, and personal experience, with strong geographical diversity and methodological rigor. His scholarship appears in leading journals such as Social Science & Medicine, Medical Anthropology, and Anthropology & Medicine.

Wahlberg has received significant recognition through research grants from the European Research Council and the Danish Council for Independent Research. He is an active contributor to academic discourse through editorial work, conference participation, and public engagement.

He supervises graduate students and teaches in areas including medical anthropology, theory of science, and global development. He is affiliated with research groups Health and Life Conditions and Techne at the University of Copenhagen. His collaborative network spans institutions in Europe and Asia, particularly China and Vietnam.