Utpal N. Sandesara

Utpal N. Sandesara serves as Assistant Professor in Residence at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), holding a joint appointment in the Division of General Internal Medicine-Health Services Research within the UCLA School of Medicine and the Global Health program at the UCLA International Institute. He maintains additional affiliation with the UCLA Center for India and South Asia.

His academic credentials include an M.D. (2019) and Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology (2017) from the University of Pennsylvania, complemented by an A.B. in Social Studies from Harvard University (2008).

Dr. Sandesara's research integrates ethnographic methodologies to investigate bodily suffering, structural inequality, and medical care systems. His work critically examines gender dynamics in reproductive health, medical pluralism in India, and structural violence through projects on sex-selective abortion, physician burnout, cirrhosis caregiving, and community hypertension solutions. His teaching emphasizes critical social science frameworks for understanding illness and inequality, with specialized focus on gender-kinship systems, contemporary India, and public health governance.

Recent 2024 publications analyze sex selection in Western India through dual lenses: medical pluralism's moral dimensions in quests for male offspring and narrative-driven public health campaigns' limitations in transforming gendered reproductive practices. These works establish connections between biopower, melodramatic storytelling, and embodied ethics in Indian healthcare contexts.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021) supporting his book project "She Is Not Ours"

Dr. Sandesara mentors graduate students while conducting clinic-based ethnography at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, where he provides primary care for vulnerable populations. His research integrates clinical practice with anthropological inquiry to develop community-driven health interventions. Current funding supports manuscript development for his second book examining moral experiences surrounding sex-selective abortion in Gujarat.

His scholarly impact emerges through synergistic collaborations between the International Institute's Global Health program and the Center for India and South Asia, creating interdisciplinary frameworks for addressing structural determinants of health in resource-limited settings.