Prof. Dr. Emily Mendenhall, Georgetown University, United States
Prof. Dr. Emily Mendenhall ๐๐ is a distinguished Professor at Georgetown Universityโs Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, specializing in Science, Technology, and International Affairs. With a PhD in Anthropology from Northwestern University and an MPH from Emory University, she integrates global health and social science research. She serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Social Science and Medicine โ Mental Health ๐ฐ and is an Honorary Researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Recipient of prestigious awards including the 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship ๐, her work advances medical anthropology and global mental health.
Publication Profile
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๐ Education
Prof. Dr. Emily Mendenhall has a strong interdisciplinary educational background. She earned her PhD (2012) and MA (2009) in Anthropology from Northwestern University ๐ซ in Evanston, IL, USA. Earlier, she completed her Master of Public Health (MPH) with honors in Global Health at Emory Universityโs Rollins School of Public Health ๐ in Atlanta, GA (2006). Her undergraduate degree is a BA with honors in Interdisciplinary Studies from Davidson College ๐ in North Carolina (2004). Additionally, she enhanced her global perspective studying Culture, Development, and Social Justice in Chile ๐จ๐ฑ at the School for International Training (2002).
๐ Awards and Fellowships
Prof. Dr. Emily Mendenhall has received numerous prestigious awards recognizing her outstanding contributions. Highlights include the Extraordinary Merit Award ๐
from Georgetown University (2020, 2021, 2024), and the distinguished Guggenheim Fellowship ๐ in 2023. Her acclaimed book won the Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize ๐ in 2022. She was appointed Provostโs Distinguished Associate Professor at Georgetown in 2019. Other honors include the George K. Foster Award ๐งฌ for Medical Anthropology (2017), Creative Scholarship Award (2016), and a top article recognition by the South African Medical Research Council (2013). Early fellowships include the NIH Fogarty Research Scholar and Northwestern Doctoral Fellowship.
๐ Teaching
Prof. Dr. Emily Mendenhall has been a dedicated educator in the Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA) program at Georgetown University ๐๏ธ. She teaches a variety of courses focused on medical anthropology, global health, and social theory, including Directed Reading in Medical Anthropology ๐, Global Health Politics and Policy ๐, and War, Violence, and Health โ๏ธ. Other courses she leads explore topics like Global Hunger ๐ฝ๏ธ, Global Health Through Film ๐ฅ, and People, Plagues, and Technology ๐ฆ . She also mentors students through the STIA Honors Thesis Seminar, supporting advanced research and scholarship.
๐ฌ Research Focus
Prof. Dr. Emily Mendenhallโs research spans medical anthropology, global health, and mental health ๐๐ง . She investigates complex chronic conditions like Long Covid ๐ฆ , exploring patient experiences and digital activism ๐ป. Her work also addresses ecological grief ๐ฟ among farmers and pastoralists in Africa, highlighting environmental and social impacts on health. She studies health stigma, chronic disease complexity, and the intersection of culture and medicine ๐งฌ. Her interdisciplinary approach combines social science with medical research, focusing on marginalized communities in Kenya, Ethiopia, and India to advance global health equity and culturally informed care.
Publication Top Notes
๐ Digital activism in Kenya: Moving from the digital center to the digital periphery of Long Covid experience โ Mendenhall EA, Kamau LW, Kenworthy NJ, Bosire EN, Globalization and Health, 2025
๐ Ecological grief among farmers and pastoralists in Ethiopia and Kenya โ Wahid SS, Musyimi CW, Oestericher B, Mendenhall EA, Bosire EN, SSM Mental Health, 2025
๐ค Patients as knowledge partners in the context of complex chronic conditions โ Hsu VJ, Moodie M, Dumes AA, Lรถwy I, Mendenhall EA, Medical Humanities, 2025 | ๐ Cited by: 1
๐ฑ Cultural and contextual adaptation of the Solastalgia subscale in Kilifi, Kenya โ Wahid SS, Khakali LN, Agoi F, Mendenhall EA, Bosire EN, Global Mental Health, 2025 | ๐ Cited by: 1
๐ป Long COVID and the Rise of Digital Patient Activism โ Mendenhall EA, Current History, 2025 | ๐ Cited by: 0
๐ง Stigma, Chronicity and Complexity of Living with Long Covid in Kenya โ Bosire EN, Kamau LW, Mendenhall EA, Culture Medicine and Psychiatry, 2025 | ๐ Cited by: 1
๐ง Water in the West: Disconnect between farmersโ and policymakersโ perceptions โ Wahal A, Mendenhall EA, Giordano MF, Journal of Rural Studies, 2024
๐ซ C-QIP Trial: Cardiovascular Quality Improvement in India โ Singh K, Nikhare K, Gandral M, Huffman MD, Prabhakaran D, American Heart Journal, 2024
๐ฅ Trust, Individualism, and the Logics of Care in Middle America โ Mendenhall EA, Transcultural Psychiatry, 2024 | ๐ Cited by: 3
๐ Interdisciplinary perspectives on multimorbidity in Africa โ Dixon J, Morton B, Nkhata MJ, Vale E, Limbani F, Mendenhall EA, PLOS Global Public Health, 2024 | ๐ Cited by: 1