Teodor Zidaru

Teodor Zidaru is a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics' Department of Anthropology, specializing in East African anthropology with 24 months of fieldwork in Kenya's Gusii Highlands. His work examines trust dynamics at the intersection of religion and political-economy, challenging assumptions about social trust in Kenya. He currently focuses on post-Covid care networks in the UK, digital mental health care, and the intersection of anthropology with data science.

• Education: PhD (LSE), BSc/MRes (UCL)

Research interests include: trust mechanisms in hierarchical relationships, data science literacy's impact on global knowledge economies, and how communities engage with AI technologies. His teaching spans anthropological theory, ethnographic methods, and African studies.

Recent work explores AI's role in healthcare compassion through systematic reviews, and co-led pandemic death studies with LSE's COVID and Care Research Group. His postdoc monograph project reinterprets mutual aid systems through a socio-economic lens.

• Grants: ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship, NHS-funded research
• Labs/Teams: LSE Anthropology's COVID Care Research Group, Allegra Laboratory collaborations