Michelle LaBonte

Michelle LaBonte is an Assistant Professor at Purdue University and an Affiliated Faculty member in Critical Disability Studies and SIS Research Focus. She holds dual expertise as a historian of biomedicine and a molecular biologist, focusing on the sociocultural and scientific dynamics of diagnostic uncertainty, particularly in cystic fibrosis (CF).

• BA in Molecular Biology, Princeton University
• PhD in Virology, Harvard University (Division of Medical Sciences)
• PhD in History of Science, Harvard University (2022)

Her research explores how diagnostic technologies, despite their specificity, generate novel uncertainties in medical practice, with broader implications for patient narratives and healthcare ethics. She is currently finalizing her book Challenging Diagnosis: Cystic Fibrosis and the Quest for Certainty (University of Chicago Press).

Scientific Awards:

• Faculty Mentor Award for undergraduate research
• Several teaching awards at Harvard University

LaBonte teaches and mentors graduate students interested in the history of modern biomedicine and has published in interdisciplinary journals such as the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences and the Bulletin of the History of Medicine.