I am a historian who specializes in sexuality, disease, and public health. My current research focuses on the processes by which men who had sex with men emerged as a group of interest to public health in the middle decades of the twentieth century.
Originally from Vancouver, Canada, I came to the UK in 2005 with over a decade of teaching experience and having worked in the health and fitness fields, and in film and television production. At the University of Oxford, I completed a master's degree and doctorate in history, focusing on HIV/AIDS and public health. I have earned postdoctoral research fellowships from the Economic and Social Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, holding these first at King’s College London, then the University of Cambridge. I am currently an external college lecturer and director of studies for history and philosophy of science at Magdalene College, Cambridge.
My research on the history of the idea of “patient zero” has been published in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine and Nature. It has also been adapted for various audiences, offering inspiration for a German and English musical theatre production, “AIDS Folies,” performed in Berlin, Vienna, and Stuttgart in 2018. I served as historical consultant for Killing Patient Zero (Fadoo Productions, 2019), the documentary feature based on my book, Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic. The film, written and directed by Laurie Lynd, was awarded the American Historical Association's 2020 John E. O'Connor Film Award for outstanding interpretation of history through film (documentary category).
Since 2012 I have served on the executive committee of the Society for the Social History of Medicine, and in 2019, I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. I also work as a professional coach, accredited by the International Coach Federation.