Vinh-Kim Nguyen

Vinh-Kim Nguyen is a Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where he teaches Social Theory and Medical Anthropology. He also holds appointments in Anthropology and Global Health at the École de Santé publique de l’Université de Montréal and the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Paris. A medical anthropologist and physician, he practices Emergency Medicine at the Montréal Jewish General Hospital and has extensive experience in pandemic management, including leading the development of COVID-19 treatment units in 2020. His work spans global health, biopolitics, and the intersection of science and politics in disease eradication.

• Education: MD and PhD in Anthropology
• Languages: English, French

Vinh-Kim Nguyen's research focuses on medical anthropology, global health, and HIV/AIDS prevention strategies, particularly through pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). He examines the social and organizational networks enabling PrEP efficacy in clinical trials and its implementation in African contexts. Other projects include the Inserm/NIH Prevac Ebola Vaccine trial and studies on conflict-driven antimicrobial resistance. His work bridges science and technology studies with health policy, emphasizing equity and ethics.

His publications highlight trends in pandemic response, therapeutic citizenship, and the financialisation of pharmaceuticals. Key works include the award-winning An Anthropology of Biomedicine and The Republic of Therapy, which analyze biomedicine’s societal impacts. Recent projects explore the psychedelic renaissance in Switzerland and its global health implications.

Scientific awards and honors include the ERC Consolidator Grant for his research on HIV eradication. He also co-founded the Medicine, Anthropology, Theory journal, the first open-access publication in Medical Anthropology.

Nguyen has advised the World Health Organization’s Blueprint and Médecins Sans Frontières’ CRASH humanitarian research unit. He coordinates the social science team of the Inserm/NIH Prevac Ebola Vaccine trial and is part of the decentralized LOST research network (Law, Organization, Science and Technology), focusing on critique in global health ethnography.