Professor Anne Pollock
Professor of Global Health & Social Medicine
Currently on sabbatical until December 2025
Research interests
- Biomedical and life sciences
- Equality
- Medicine
- Policy
Biography
Anne Pollock is a Professor of Global Health & Social Medicine at the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine. Prior to moving to London to join King's in 2018, Anne spent a decade based at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
She holds degrees in Science, Technology & Society from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) and in Sociology from Brandeis University (BA).
Anne’s research explores feminist, anti-racist, and postcolonial engagements with science, technology, and medicine. She is the author of three books: Medicating Race: Heart disease and Durable Preoccupations with Difference (Duke 2012), Synthesizing Hope: Matter, Knowledge, and Place in South African Drug Discovery (Chicago 2019), and Sickening: Anti-Black Racism and Health Disparities in the United States (Minnesota 2021).
She is an Editor of BioSocieties, and President-Elect of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S).
Research
- Science and technology studies (STS)
- Anti-racism and health
- Feminist theory and biomedicine
- Social studies of pharmaceutical research & development
- Science and social justice movements, especially in the United States and South Africa
PhD supervision
Anne supervises PhD students with aligned research interests, typically in the areas of anti-racism and health and/or feminist science and technology studies.
Further details
Research
Queer@King's
Centre for research and teaching in gender and sexuality studies and a hub for collaborative work with queer activists, artists, and communities.
Culture, Medicine & Power research group
The interdisciplinary study of social, cultural, political and historical dimensions of health and illness.
Reproduction Research Group
Our interdisciplinary group examines the complex social, cultural, and political dimensions of reproduction.
LGBTQ+ policymaking in the UK
Establishing an interdisciplinary network of academic, policymaking, and civil society stakeholders to address the policy needs of the UK’s LGBTQ+ population.
Project status: Ongoing
GHSM Anti Racism Steering Group
The Anti Racism Steering Group is a staff-student led initiative in the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine (GHSM).
Critical Global Capitalism Studies Collective
A collective bringing critical global capitalism research, teaching and activism at King's together under one umbrella to provide a forum for collaborations, events, and discussions, and to forge connections with the media, the policy world, and other like-minded groups.
King's Race Research Network (KRRN)
An interdisciplinary network of scholars of race based at King's College London.
News
Careful Whisper: a new installation exploring the intersection of art, heart and feminist science
The project, displayed at Science Gallery London, draws on Professor Anne Pollock’s 2015 article ‘Heart feminism’.
King's-Australia Partnership Seed Fund fostering collaborations with Australian researchers
In late 2023, the Menzies Australia Institute awarded 11 research grants to support collaboration between King’s staff and academics in Australia.
IWD 2022: Women leading the way within SSPP
The Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy has its research endeavour entirely led by women and four women academics from the faculty have just been...
Sickening: Anti-Black Racism and Health Disparities in the United States
Professor Anne Pollock’s new book, “Sickening: Anti-Black Racism and Health Disparities in the United States”, will be launched at a virtual event in Atlanta...
How COVID-19 has highlighted racism as a health risk
It is discriminatory social and economic structures that are determining how sick patients become from the virus, argue academics in latest WORLD: we got this...
Events
Public Lecture: Towards Rigour and Justice in Research for Health
We are honored to host Dr. Seye Abimbola for a public lecture titled "Towards Rigour and Justice in Research for Health."
Please note: this event has passed.
Careful Whisper
Careful Whisper is a new feminist intervention at Science Gallery London, King's flagship exhibition space, that brings together the expertise of artist and...
Please note: this event has passed.
Heart Sense: Anne Pollock & Nina Wakeford in dialogue with Nassim Parvin
How can the creation, rendering, and experiencing of heartbeat data and cardiovascular research be done in ways that are distinctly feminist?
Please note: this event has passed.
Careful Whisper/Heart Science: Anne Pollock & Nina Wakeford with Sue Brain
What is the generative potential of thinking across the domains of art, feminist science and technology studies, and cardiovascular science?
Please note: this event has passed.
A collaborative discussion about Global Capitalism research at KCL
A platform for academics to explore setting up a multi-disciplinary, trans-departmental Center for Global Capitalism at King's.
Please note: this event has passed.
Book Talk - 'Making Gaybies: Queer Reproduction and Multiracial Feeling'
Making Gaybies is a vital account of racialised intimacy in contemporary queer family making in multiracial Australia.
Please note: this event has passed.
Book talk: 'Haunting Biology: Science and Indigeneity' by Professor Emma Kowal
The book explores the troubled history of Western biological studies of Indigenous Australians.
Please note: this event has passed.
Book launch: 'Viruses and Reproductive Injustice: Zika in Brazil'
Launch of a book by Professor Ilana Löwy, exploring health disparities and reproductive injustice revealed by the Zika outbreak in Brazil.
Please note: this event has passed.
From Court to Clinical Trials: the Impact of New Technologies of Life on Women’s Sexual Rights in Mexico and Latin America... and Vice Versa
This presentation critically looks at clinical reproductive trials (MRTs and Uterine Lavage) and court cases involving new reproductive technologies (i.e.,...
Please note: this event has passed.
Age of Health: Inequalities and Social Justice
Professor Camara Jones and Professor Sir Michael Marmot will present and discuss on 'Health inequalities and social justice'.
Please note: this event has passed.
Features
Black History Month 2020: Resisting oppression, structural barriers and attainment gaps
In conversation with Professor Anne Pollock and Dr Eka Ikpe of the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy for Black History Month 2020
Gender translations: bringing together disciplines to explore gender and the world
Professor Anne Pollock and artist Dr Nina Wakeford discuss their collaboration on the recent GENDER exhibition at Science Gallery London.
Research
Queer@King's
Centre for research and teaching in gender and sexuality studies and a hub for collaborative work with queer activists, artists, and communities.
Culture, Medicine & Power research group
The interdisciplinary study of social, cultural, political and historical dimensions of health and illness.
Reproduction Research Group
Our interdisciplinary group examines the complex social, cultural, and political dimensions of reproduction.
LGBTQ+ policymaking in the UK
Establishing an interdisciplinary network of academic, policymaking, and civil society stakeholders to address the policy needs of the UK’s LGBTQ+ population.
Project status: Ongoing
GHSM Anti Racism Steering Group
The Anti Racism Steering Group is a staff-student led initiative in the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine (GHSM).
Critical Global Capitalism Studies Collective
A collective bringing critical global capitalism research, teaching and activism at King's together under one umbrella to provide a forum for collaborations, events, and discussions, and to forge connections with the media, the policy world, and other like-minded groups.
King's Race Research Network (KRRN)
An interdisciplinary network of scholars of race based at King's College London.
News
Careful Whisper: a new installation exploring the intersection of art, heart and feminist science
The project, displayed at Science Gallery London, draws on Professor Anne Pollock’s 2015 article ‘Heart feminism’.
King's-Australia Partnership Seed Fund fostering collaborations with Australian researchers
In late 2023, the Menzies Australia Institute awarded 11 research grants to support collaboration between King’s staff and academics in Australia.
IWD 2022: Women leading the way within SSPP
The Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy has its research endeavour entirely led by women and four women academics from the faculty have just been...
Sickening: Anti-Black Racism and Health Disparities in the United States
Professor Anne Pollock’s new book, “Sickening: Anti-Black Racism and Health Disparities in the United States”, will be launched at a virtual event in Atlanta...
How COVID-19 has highlighted racism as a health risk
It is discriminatory social and economic structures that are determining how sick patients become from the virus, argue academics in latest WORLD: we got this...
Events
Public Lecture: Towards Rigour and Justice in Research for Health
We are honored to host Dr. Seye Abimbola for a public lecture titled "Towards Rigour and Justice in Research for Health."
Please note: this event has passed.
Careful Whisper
Careful Whisper is a new feminist intervention at Science Gallery London, King's flagship exhibition space, that brings together the expertise of artist and...
Please note: this event has passed.
Heart Sense: Anne Pollock & Nina Wakeford in dialogue with Nassim Parvin
How can the creation, rendering, and experiencing of heartbeat data and cardiovascular research be done in ways that are distinctly feminist?
Please note: this event has passed.
Careful Whisper/Heart Science: Anne Pollock & Nina Wakeford with Sue Brain
What is the generative potential of thinking across the domains of art, feminist science and technology studies, and cardiovascular science?
Please note: this event has passed.
A collaborative discussion about Global Capitalism research at KCL
A platform for academics to explore setting up a multi-disciplinary, trans-departmental Center for Global Capitalism at King's.
Please note: this event has passed.
Book Talk - 'Making Gaybies: Queer Reproduction and Multiracial Feeling'
Making Gaybies is a vital account of racialised intimacy in contemporary queer family making in multiracial Australia.
Please note: this event has passed.
Book talk: 'Haunting Biology: Science and Indigeneity' by Professor Emma Kowal
The book explores the troubled history of Western biological studies of Indigenous Australians.
Please note: this event has passed.
Book launch: 'Viruses and Reproductive Injustice: Zika in Brazil'
Launch of a book by Professor Ilana Löwy, exploring health disparities and reproductive injustice revealed by the Zika outbreak in Brazil.
Please note: this event has passed.
From Court to Clinical Trials: the Impact of New Technologies of Life on Women’s Sexual Rights in Mexico and Latin America... and Vice Versa
This presentation critically looks at clinical reproductive trials (MRTs and Uterine Lavage) and court cases involving new reproductive technologies (i.e.,...
Please note: this event has passed.
Age of Health: Inequalities and Social Justice
Professor Camara Jones and Professor Sir Michael Marmot will present and discuss on 'Health inequalities and social justice'.
Please note: this event has passed.
Features
Black History Month 2020: Resisting oppression, structural barriers and attainment gaps
In conversation with Professor Anne Pollock and Dr Eka Ikpe of the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy for Black History Month 2020
Gender translations: bringing together disciplines to explore gender and the world
Professor Anne Pollock and artist Dr Nina Wakeford discuss their collaboration on the recent GENDER exhibition at Science Gallery London.