History of Health Sciences Students & Alumni

 BS in Kinesiology and MA in History, San Francisco State University, PhD in History and Philosophy of American Education, UC Davis

John Elia is an Associate Dean in the College of Health & Social Sciences at San Francisco State University. He teaches courses on the history of public health in the United States, contemporary sexuality, health in society, and health and social movements in the United States in the 20th century. He received the Sarlo Award for excellence in teaching in 2010. His expertise is in history and education, and his current research interest include the history of public health in San Francisco, school-based sexuality education, and historical and philosophical aspects of U.S. higher education. He has co-edited five books and written numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and book reviews in the areas of human sexuality studies and LGBT & queer studies. He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Homosexuality, a landmark international peer-reviewed scholarly journal in sexuality studies. 

BA in History, Sonoma State University, Sonoma, and MA in History, Sonoma State University, Sonoma (pending)

How do you envision your research having a real-world impact that will promote health?
My MA thesis focused on reproductive healthcare on the second-largest federal healthcare system--the Military Health System. Through the lens of active-duty women and military wives, my thesis examines the historical changes in the military health system prompted by social, political, and medical changes and demonstrates how changes over time were both detrimental and beneficial to active-duty women and military wives. Centering women in the history of the U.S. military health system, particularly their reproductive health, reframes the importance of how health policies for the Military Health System were written--mostly by men who believed gender was an important distinction for healthcare. Typically, historians who write about reproductive politics have focused on race and class as the leading causes for women's lack of agency, often arguing that white, middle- and upper-class women have had more choices and access regarding their reproductive health. While this is not untrue, this approach has not allowed for discussion of active-duty women and military wives who embody all races and socioeconomic backgrounds and who share common experiences within the military system. While it is important to examine the intersectionalities of these women and how their racial or class differences may determine different narratives, for my research, gender is the defining criteria, since gender was the foregrounding of policy. The uniqueness and diversity of women associated with the U.S. military serve as a sample group of the diversity of the larger population of women in the United States. Although there is no such thing as a single experience for all women, this study examines alternate intersectionalities from race and class to gender, rank, and relationship to the military as the basis of research.

Examining how women in the military viewed their reproductive health care, access, and choices in conjunction with the constant changes to their reproductive rights is critical to understanding how the Department of Defense can serve women and their health in the future. By affiliating with the U.S. military, these women have already stepped outside the confines of gender-normative roles. Prior to 1967, women could not exceed 2% of the armed forces; only in 1973 did the Supreme Court deem it unconstitutional to deny servicewomen's dependents basic benefits such as medical and housing; and not until 1975 did laws change so that pregnant women were no longer automatically discharged from active duty. It is not surprising that this group of women has not outwardly advocated for their reproductive rights within the military health system when, either as spouse or servicemember, women struggled for basic recognition and acceptance. Because these women have varying experiences in both civilian and military facilities, this research also helps to provide more historical context for the overall national disparities in women's reproductive health. Using oral histories from veteran women and military spouses, my project fills a gap in the literature on the reproductive health choices and access these women had for more than seven decades.

What are your future professional aspirations?
I have always wanted to teach. Though originally, during my undergraduate years, I had wanted to teach middle and high school. Since completing my MA, I would like to teach at the collegiate level. I would like to inspire young thinkers through more insightful and inclusive curriculum. I have always enjoyed taking on multiple responsibilities. I have always been fulfilled by public and community service. My research, to date, has been eye-opening. Therefore, in addition to teaching, research, and writing, I would like to participate in public healthcare policy, whether as historical consult or a career path, I would be open to this opportunity in the future.

AA in Journalism, Laney College; BA in Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley

How do you envision your research having a real-world impact that will promote health?
Social advocacy has been the center of creating access to housing, jobs, pharmaceutical drugs, and other human rights for folks living with HIV/AIDS. For the past two decades, advocacy for HIV/AIDS medications focuses on international regions, particularly countries in Africa. The narrative of those within the Americas living with HIV/AIDS is on the verge of erasure. Translating social advocacy into an analysis of Black, queer Americans' social mobilization and organizing during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States can be utilized to create new policies and laws that would place underserved communities at the forefront of healthcare access.

What are your future professional aspirations?
As a Black, queer American, I know first-hand the effects historical research can have on the future of health for those within my community. As society grapples with the intersections of COVID-19 and HIV, there is an emergence of research on HIV vaccines that would become accessible, particularly to those with access. Epidemiologic studies and social advocacy for underserved populations in the United States bridge science, health, and social issues. Consequently, I envision myself as a public health historian, aiding government officials in tracing these disparities and proposing solutions to advance health equity. Additionally, I see myself as a professor assisting students in developing their appreciation for social movements' thought-provoking and influential nature and their centrality to ending health disparities in the United States.

MA in History, California State University, Sacramento

How do you envision your research having a real-world impact that will promote health?
The experiences and lives of the LGBTQ community are essential to understanding any history, and the medical experiences of LGBTQ individuals will only add to the growing queer narrative. I want to examine the connection between medicine, science, and the queer community. I want to understand how American medicine shaped and impacted queer lives, and the role science played in shaping gender and sexual identity.

What are your future professional aspirations?
Through this research, my main goal is to create more inclusive spaces in scholarship and academia. When I came out in college, my understanding of history shifted dramatically. I sought out histories and stories that included voices like mine and often found little. Medical history in connection with LGBTQ history will shape how many understand the American narrative.

BA in Sociology & Chinese Literature from National Chengchi University and MA in Sociology from National Taiwan University

How do you envision your research having a real-world impact that will promote health?
My goal is to both produce and mobilize knowledge as the basis for further health reform in Asian countries. By examining the historical trajectory of the growing commercialization in immunological health treatments, I am eager to make the public more aware of the commercialized medicine which emphasizes profits over patients in healthcare.

What are your future professional aspirations?
After completing the doctoral program, I plan to seek a teaching and research position in a research or academic institution where I can discover, produce, communicate, and challenge knowledge in the history of medicine and health sciences. In addition, pursuing an academic career in the future would also allow me to bring fresh East Asian perspectives for countries across the world.

My academic interests lie at the intersection of three fields: the social history of science, medicine, and knowledge. I am especially interested in the dynamic process surrounding dust mite health problems--including commercialization, knowledge formation, and risk governance--in the historical contexts of East Asia and the United States.

BA in History, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and MA in History, California State University, Sacramento

How do you envision your research having a real-world impact that will promote health?
I'm studying the largest and only fully-nationalized healthcare system in the United States: the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The VHA also happens to be, by practically any measure, one of the most successful healthcare systems--whether we're talking about health outcomes, patient satisfaction, costs of care delivery, and so on. The VHA also serves as a major training institution for the entire nation's workforce of healthcare professionals through its residency partnerships with academic medical institutions like UCSF. Around 70% of all healthcare professionals receive at least some training through or with the VHA. All of which means it's an institution that is fundamentally important to the state of health care delivery, these days. Yet, it hasn't really been subjected to historical examination. I seek to correct that with my research, which I feel is important, because, despite all the successes the VHA has achieved, I think the system is fundamentally broken, though it's not the fault of the folks working at the VHA. There are some problems that face veterans today that are simply too big for any institution--even the largest healthcare system in the U.S.--to solve on its own, and having a historical context in which to frame that argument is essential if the ways in which the system is broken are to be addressed.

What's more, I hope that my research of the history of the VHA and its development offers lessons outside of veterans' healthcare. Certainly, if the VHA can deliver higher quality care at lower costs, and has been doing so for decades, there is much to be learned that can be applied to healthcare systems beyond the VHA, as well.

What are your future professional aspirations?
Originally, I would have said that I wanted to teach at the college level. I still want that of course--our young folks have the best opportunity to make positive changes, and I believe I can help them do just that by providing a sound and entertaining historical education. I see that as a continuation of my public service, which has been profoundly fulfilling. But my time in the Ph.D. program here at UCSF has given me many opportunities to expand my horizons and look beyond my focused goals of teaching college students. I've been exposed to archive work, public history, and scholarship. Those are all ways to teach, too. And they allow me to continue doing the things I love doing as a student--I think anyone who spends as much time as I have in college has learned to like it in some ways. I'd love to pay that forward, too. And, of course, my research here has demonstrated the influence of institutions and bureaucracies, so I won't discount work in those areas, either. I suppose I could have just answered "to teach and do my best to make tomorrow a bit better than today," which would be honest, but I thought some specificity would be helpful.
 

BA and MA in History, California State University, Sacramento

How do you envision your research having a real-world impact that will promote health?
Hip-hop culture was created as a form of resistance. Since it has been commercialized and many artists equate success with profit-making potential, hip-hop has promoted crass consumerism, violence, and misogyny. Returning hip-hop to its natural element of resistance and public health concerns could inspire aspiring artists to use their platforms advancing more positive images.

What are your future professional aspirations?
History has allowed me to connect the past with the present, showing that both are always connected. In addition to teaching, which is a dream of mine, I envision myself creating research that inspires future historians to use their creativity to give a voice to voiceless people. I abhorred history until my undergraduate years because of the common-core curriculum I experienced throughout public school. One day, I plan to open my own community center in my hometown, comprised of history classes, tutoring, and extracurricular activities that keeps young people away from violence and expands their creativity.

Hip-hop culture and the Black Panther Party have played pivotal roles in my life, especially regarding African Americans well-being. The Black Panther Party was officially terminated in 1982 but became defunct in the early 1970s. Coincidentally, hip hop was born in 1973. I want to examine the cultural shift in black communities from the Panthers' demise to hip-hop's ascension. The intersection of race, class, and gender played profound roles in African Americans' health, especially with the rise of crack cocaine and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Exploring African Americans' resistance to unfair health treatment in the last quarter of the twentieth century through a cultural lens could answer questions that still resonate today.

Dissertation Chair: Elizabeth Watkins, PhD
Current Position: Associate Professor, UCSF Department of Family & Community Medicine

Dissertation Title: A Disease Itself: The Transformation of Pain After 1945
Dissertation Chair: Elizabeth Watkins, PhD
Current Position: Independent Scholar

Dissertation Title: Calling the Shots: A Social History of Vaccination in the US, 1968-2008
Dissertation Chair: Elizabeth Watkins, PhD
Current Position: Associate Professor, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society

Dissertation Title: Teratology Transformed: Uncertainty, Knowledge, and Conflict over Environmental Etiologies of Birth Defects in Midcentury America
Dissertation Chairs: Dorothy Porter, PhD and Elizabeth Watkins, PhD
Current Position: Postdoctoral Scholar in Biomedical Ethics at Stanford's Center for Biomedical Ethics

Dissertation Title: Revolutionary Medicine: Homeopathy and the Regulation of the Medical Profession in Mexico, 1853-1942
Dissertation Chairs: Dorothy Porter, PhD and Gabriela Soto-Laveaga, PhD
Current Position: Assistant Professor, History Department, Southwestern University

Dissertation Title: Cows, Cattle Owners, and the USDA: Brucellosis, Populations, and Public Health Policy in Twentieth Century United States
Dissertation Chair: Dorothy Porter, PhD
Current Position: Historian of Medicine and Public Health, Science History Institute

Dissertation Title: Molecular Ferment: The Rise and Proliferation of Yeast Model Organism Research
Dissertation Chair: Elizabeth Watkins, PhD
Current Position: Production Editor, Annual Reviews

Dissertation Title: Heightened Expectations: The History of the Human Growth Hormone Industry in America
Dissertation Chair: Elizabeth Watkins, PhD
Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, UC San Francisco

Dissertation Title: "Shangri-Laboratory": Place and Psychiatric Public Health in Hawaii, 1939-1963
Dissertation Chair: Elizabeth Watkins, PhD
Current Position: Practicing Psychiatrist in San Francisco

Dissertation Title: Better Health is Purchasable: The History of Health Economies and Public Health, 1958-1975
Dissertation Chair: Dorothy Porter, PhD
Current Position: UX Researcher, Meta

Thesis Title: Free and Community Clinics of the 1970s: The Origins of an Essential Component of California's Healthcare Safety Net

Dissertation Title: The Brain Electric: A History of Neuroscientific Ideas About How We Change
Dissertation Chair: Dorothy Porter, PhD
Current Position: Presidential Management Fellow and Health Science Policy Analyst at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Dissertation Title: Unearthing Botanical Medicaments: A History of Plant-Derived Therapies in Modern America
Dissertation Chair: Brian Dolan, PhD
Current Position: Associate Advertising Account Manager, AppLift

Thesis Title: "Operating on Shadows": Evolving Perceptions of the Incidentally Discovered Adrenal Mass, 1982-2002
Thesis Advisor: Elizabeth Watkins, PhD
Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, UC San Francisco

Dissertation Title: "Two Strikes -- a Lady and Colored:" Gender, Race, and the Making of the Modern Medical Profession, 1864-1941
Dissertation Advisors: Aimee Medeiros, PhD and Dorothy Porter, PhD
Current Position: Independent Scholar