Claire Laurier Decoteau

Claire Laurier Decoteau is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, specializing in health inequities, knowledge production politics, and marginalized communities' healthcare experiences. Her work bridges sociological theory with urgent public health crises through ethnographic rigor.

Research trajectory spans HIV/AIDS policy in South Africa, autism in the Somali diaspora, pandemic response, and abortion access. She examines how race, class, and immigration status intersect with biomedical systems through:

• 5+ years studying structural racism in Chicago's pandemic response
• NSF-funded research on autism etiology debates
• $248,091 Society of Family Planning grant on cross-state abortion access
• Critical analysis of health metrics as tools of exclusion

Award-winning scholarship includes:

• Lewis A. Coser Award for theoretical innovation
• Robert K. Merton Prize for science studies
• Three ASA section book award honorable mentions
• UIC teaching and mentoring accolades

Her methodological approach combines ethnography with discourse analysis to reveal how marginalized communities navigate healthcare systems while challenging institutional power structures through embodied resistance and epistemic community building.