Lorenzo Servitje

Lorenzo Servitje is an Associate Professor of Literature and Medicine with a dual appointment in the Department of English and the Health, Medicine, and Society program at Lehigh University, where he currently serves as the director of the Health, Medicine, and Society program. He holds a PhD in English from the University of California, Riverside (2017) and a Master in Public Health from Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine.

Dr. Servitje is an affiliated researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's "Antimicrobials in Society" cluster and serves on the Easton Board of Health. He actively participates in public health initiatives including organizing Public Health Week at Lehigh University and collaborating on campus-wide projects to educate students about microbial risk assessment.

• PhD, University of California, Riverside, 2017
• Master in Public Health, Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine

Dr. Servitje's research spans the interdisciplinary field of Health Humanities, with a focus on literature and medicine, history of medicine and public health, science and technology studies, media studies, and Victorian literature. His scholarship bridges humanities and sciences, examining how literary and cultural representations shape our understanding of medical concepts, particularly regarding antimicrobial resistance and Victorian medicine.

His publication record reveals consistent engagement with cultural dimensions of medicine across historical periods, with recent work focusing on antibiotic resistance. His scholarship demonstrates how literary analysis informs current public health challenges, particularly in understanding narratives that shape responses to infectious disease threats. His work examines the intersection of scientific discourse with literary forms, revealing how medical knowledge is constructed through narrative frameworks.

• "Medicine Is War: The Martial Metaphor in Victorian Literature and Culture" (SUNY University Press 2021)
• "The Walking Med: Zombies and the Medical Image" (Penn State 2016)
• "Endemic: Essays in Contagion Theory" (Palgrave 2016)
• "Syphilis and Subjectivity: From the Victorians to the Present" (Palgrave 2017)

As an educator, Dr. Servitje teaches courses on literature and medicine, Victorian literature, health humanities, and research methods. His teaching reflects his interdisciplinary approach, connecting literary studies with public health concerns. He has developed innovative courses such as "Are We Living in the Post-Antibiotic Apocalypse" and "How Literature Made Medicine Modern." He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Medical Humanities and as an associate editor for Literature and Medicine, and is co-lead editor of the "Studies in Health Humanities" book series from Lehigh University Press.