Category: Research

Food Allergies and the Hygienic Sublime

My latest peer-reviewed, scholarly research article, “Food Allergies and the Hygienic Sublime,” was published in December 2019 in the open-access journal, Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience. You can read the full article for free.

Problems of Scale

The reproduction of gender in food allergic households isn’t about false consciousness. But the priorities of social life at the household level doesn’t scale perfectly onto priorities for gender equality in American society.

Food as Medicine, or, What to Do When There’s No Treatment

Listening to my early research interviews can be fun. It can also be embarrassing.

For example, one question I asked in early interviews was: “What’s the treatment for food allergies?”

Now, I know that I should have asked, what medications do you use to manage food allergies? That’s what I was interested in: learning about what pills, injections, and other medical products people use to maintain their health while living with food allergies.

Why Study Food Allergies? Allergies, Medicine, and Morality

In communities where deadly infectious childhood diseases have largely retreated, food allergies have taken their place as a medico-moral cause célèbre for mothers, medical workers, and medical researchers seeking ensure the safety of innocent children. Their mysterious etiology – a combination of environmental exposure, heredity, and individual biology – unpredictable development, apparently sudden increase, and potentially deadly effects make them a source of fear for parents worldwide.

Teachable Moments in Food Allergic Life

I spent the previous weekend in sunny California at the FARE National Food Allergy Conference. I met tons of great people – adults with food allergies, parents of food allergic kids, FARE staff, business owners, scientists, and others with a connection to the food allergy world. I also ate out a lot – and eating out with a crowd of food allergy-aware people leads to lots of teachable moments!

Legislating Epinephrine: Some Initial Thoughts

As many of my readers probably know, I’m currently doing some focused research interviews to learn more about the process of passing stock epinephrine legislation in the United States. Right now, I’m at the end of a reflective and productive weekend for this part of my research. I’m excited to sit down and write for a few minutes to share with you some of my initial ideas.

Pricing Health: Skyrocketing Prices for "Drugs for Life"

Since the introduction of the Auvi-Q in early 2013, there has been a price war going on between Sanofi, the maker of the device, and Mylan, maker of the EpiPen. Both devices are epinephrine auto-injectors: single-use devices that contain a single dose of epinephrine and can easily be administered to oneself or to another person with minimal medical training. Both devices are also rising in cost.

Parsing the Measles Outbreak

I don’t ordinarily venture beyond food allergies on this blog. However, the debate about how the current measles outbreak in … More

The Cumin Recall

I’ve been following the peanut-contaminated cumin recall news, as I’m sure many of you have been as well. According to … More