Research Interests

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Global Health, global health governance, social inequality in health, anthropology of pharmaceuticals, anthropology of infectious diseases, NCDs, migration and health, traditional medicine, bioprospection, anthropology of religion and spiritual healing

Research Areas: East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar), India, Indian Ocean World

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Work Experience

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Apr - Sep 2019 Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin

Guest Lecturer

2017-2019 Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin

Principal Investigator in a German Research Foundation (DFG) funded project: Borders as symbols and causes of cultural transformation processes: the traditional medical sector in Zanzibar

Since 2018 Flinn Works (Berlin/Kassel), Documentary theatre

Scientific consultancy of the project: Global Inequality, Malaria, and Colonial History

2015-2017 Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Research Unit: Centre de recherche médecine, sciences, santé, santé mentale, société (Cermes3)/ École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris

Post-Doc in the ERC-Project GLOBHEALTH: http://globhealth.vjf.cnrs.fr

2014 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Mental Health, University of Uganda

Senior Visiting Lecturer

2014 Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin

Research Associate with teaching duties Conception/conduction of training seminars for traditional healers on NDCs and hypertension [in cooperation with the NGO World Doctors and the MoH, Zanzibar]

2012-2013 Center for Area Studies, Freie Universität Berlin

Post-Doc of the Dahlem Research School (DRS)

 

2011-2012 Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin

Research Associate (third-party funding) Topic: Bridging gaps in healthcare and healing: Traditional medicine and the biomedical health care sector in Zanzibar [in cooperation with the NGO World Doctors]

 

2011Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin

Research Associate with teaching duties

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Education

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2012 Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin

PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology

2005 Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin

MA in Social and Cultural Anthropology, minor subjects: Sociology and Education (excellent)

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Membership in Professional Associations

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AG Medical Anthropology e.V.

American Anthropological Association (AAA)

British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA), Nairobi

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sozial-und Kulturanthropologie (DG SKA)

European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA)

Groupe Ecriture, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris

Groupement d´intérêt scientifique Études asiatiques, Paris

Women in Global Health – Germany (WGH-GER)

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Teaching

 

2019 Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, FU Berlin

BA-Seminar: Mobilität, Grenzen und Grenzziehungen in afrikanischen Kontexten BA-Colloquium: Gruppe a: BA SKA Abschlusscolloquium BA-Colloquium: Gruppe b: BA SKA Abschlusscolloquium MA-Seminar: Ethnographie der Grenze

2018 Institute of Cultural Anthropology, Universität Heidelberg

MA-Seminar: Medicinal plants as strategic resource in global health: Bioprospection and sociocultural practices

2018 Institute for History of Medicine and Science Studies, Universität zu Lübeck

Seminar Lecture: Migrant-sensitive healthcare. Perspectives from critical medical anthropology

 

2014 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Mental Health, University of Uganda

MA-Seminar: Anthropology of Infectious Diseases

 

2014 Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin

BA-Seminar: Ethnographies of East Africa

 

2011Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin

BA-Seminar: Qualitative Research Methods BA-Seminar: Religion, Cosmology, and Ritual

 

2009 Department for Development Policy, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Berlin, Germany

Graduate course “Developmental effects of fair trade”

Scholarships and Grants

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2017-2019 German Research Foundation (DFG) 2015-2017 Research funding, European Research Commission (ERC) 2014 Research grantby World Doctorsfor the project Co-medicating diseases in Zanzibar among doctors and healers 2011-2012 Research grant by World Doctors for the project Bridging gaps in healthcare and healing: Traditional medicine and the biomedical health care sector in Zanzibar 2007-2010 PhD Scholarship by the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (FES) 2006-2007 PhD Research grant by the Research Commission (FK), Freie Universität Berlin 2005 Scholarship for an internship in Africa, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) 2003 MA Research grant by the Research Commission (FK), Freie Universität Berlin

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Research Experience

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February 2019-March 2019, Zanzibar (Unguja) (1 month), DFG part III

Ethnographic fieldwork, habilitation project (Topic: Borders as symbols and causes of cultural transformation processes: the traditional medical sector in Zanzibar)

 

August 2018-September 2018, Zanzibar (Unguja/Tumbatu) (2 months), DFG part II

Ethnographic fieldwork, habilitation project (Topic: Borders as symbols and causes of cultural transformation processes: the traditional medical sector in Zanzibar)

 

August 2017-February 2018, Zanzibar (Unguja/Tumbatu) (6 months), DFG part I

Ethnographic fieldwork, habilitation project (Topic: Borders as symbols and causes of cultural transformation processes: the traditional medical sector in Zanzibar)

 

September 2016-November 2016, Kenya (3 months)

Ethnographic fieldwork as part of the ERC-Project Globhealth (Topic: Transnational flow Ayurveda and its relevance for Indo-African linkages)

 

June 2015, Geneva (WHO Archives)

Archive research as part of the ERC-Project Globhealth (Topic: WHO and China: processes of Artemisinin drug validation; WHO and primary health care in India)

 

October 2015-January 2016, India (Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune) (3 months)

Ethnographic fieldwork as part of the ERC-Project Globhealth (Topic: Traditional medicine and integration: The development of pharmaceuticals from Ayurvedic pharmacopeia)

 

April 2015-June 2015, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam), Kenya (Nairobi) (3 months)

Ethnographic fieldwork as part of the ERC-Project Globhealth (Topic: Transnational trade of Ayurvedic pharmaceuticals between India and East Africa)

 

August 2014, Zanzibar (Unguja) (1 month)

Ethnographic fieldwork (Topic: Health professionals´ education and integrative health care regarding NCDs)

 

August 2013, Zanzibar (Unguja) (1 month)

Ethnographic fieldwork (Topic: Spiritual beliefs, traditional medicine and the management of NCDs in Zanzibar)

 

November 2011-January 2012, Zanzibar (Unguja/Pemba) (3 months)

Ethnographic fieldwork (Topic: Bridging gaps in healthcare and healing: Traditional medicine and the biomedical health care sector in Zanzibar)

 

November-December 2009, Ethiopia (Addis Abeba, Sodo/Oromia) (1 month)

Ethnographic fieldwork (Topic: Malaria and rural health development)

 

June 2007-July 2008, Tanzania (Mara-, Mbeya,- and Tanga-Region), Kenya (13 months)

Ethnographic fieldwork, PhD (Topic: Global health governance and malaria; circulation of Artemisinin-based drugs)

 

June 2006, Tanzania (Mara-Region) (1 month)

Ethnographic fieldwork (Topic: Medicinal plants and the management of HIV/Aids, malaria)

 

October 2005-February 2006, Tanzania (Mbeya-and Tukuyu-Region) (4 months)

Ethnographic fieldwork (Topic: KAP survey on HIV/Aids knowledge and prevention)

 

June-October 2003, Tanzania, (Ifakara, Morogoro-Region) (3 months)

Ethnographic fieldwork, MA (Topic: Religion and healing in the context of HIV/Aids)

 

August-October 2002, Thailand (Chiang Mai) (3 months)

Ethnographic fieldwork (Topic: Social consequences of HIV/Aids: orphans in rural Thailand)

 

August-October 2001, Gambia (Brikama), Senegal (Dakar) (3 months)

Ethnographic fieldwork (Topic: Social consequences of HIV/Aids: Youth livlihoods)

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Publications

 

Monographs

Meier zu Biesen, C. (2013). Globale Epidemien – lokale Antworten. Eine Ethnographie der Heilpflanze Artemisia annua in Tansania. Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag.

 

Article (peer-reviewd)

Meier zu Biesen, C. (2018). Forschen über die Pharmaindustrie: Ethische Positionierung in einem globalen Machtgeflecht. Research About the Pharmaceutical Industry: Ethical Positioning in a Powerful Network. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 19(3), Art. 29, http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/fqs-19.3.3139.

Meier zu Biesen, C. (2017). From coastal to global: The transnational flow of Ayurveda and its relevance for Indo-African linkages. Global Public Health, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2017.1281328: 1-16.

Meier zu Biesen, C. (2010). The rise to prominence of Artemisia annua L. – the transformation of a Chinese plant to a global pharmaceutical. African Sociological Review 14(2): 24-46.

 

Book chapters

Meier zu Biesen, C. (2018). Artemisia annua and grassroots responses to health crises in rural Tanzania. In Tariq Aftab, Muhammad Naeem, and M. Masroor A. Khan (Ed.), Artemisia annua: Prospects, applications and therapeutic uses (17-40). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Meier zu Biesen, C. (2014). Notions of efficacy around a Chinese medicinal plant: Artemisia annua – an innovative Aids-therapy in Tanzania. In Van Dijk, R., H. Dilger, M. Burchardt, and T. Rasing (Ed.), Religion and Aids-Treatment in Africa: Saving Souls, Prolonging Lives (271-295). London: Ashgate.

 

Others

Meier zu Biesen, C., H. Dilger and T. Nienstedt (2012). Bridging gaps in health care and healing: Traditional medicine and the biomedical health care sector in Zanzibar. Freie Universität Berlin. ISBN: 978-3-00-040272-2.

Meier zu Biesen, C. (2018). Flüchtige Leben, gesundheitliche Versorgung: Medizin und Migration – ein Kongress-Bericht. Medizinethnologie: Körper, Gesundheit und Heilung in einer globalisierten Welt. Online Blog of the Working group Medical Anthropology. http://www.medizinethnologie.-net/fluechtige-leben-gesundheitliche-versorgung-medizin-und-migration-ein-kongress-bericht/.

Meier zu Biesen, C. (2017). Embodied Belonging: In/exclusion, Health Care, and Well-Being in a World in Motion – Workshop Report. Medizinethnologie: Körper, Gesundheit und Heilung in einer globalisierten Welt. Online Blog of the Working group Medical Anthropology: http://www.medizin-ethnologie.net/embodied-belonging-workshop-report/.

Meier zu Biesen, C. (together with M. Abdalla, A. König, D. Mattes, U. Probst, B. Rutert, J. Schühle, and N. Selim) (2014). Conference report on the 5th Annual Medical Anthropology Young Scholars Meeting, 4-5 July 2014, Freie Universität Berlin. Medicine, Anthropology, Theory, 1. Dezember 2014.

 

Publications (in press)

Meier zu Biesen, C. (Book chapter). Globalized planta medica and processes of drug validation: The Artemisinin enterprise. In L. Pordié and C. Coderey (Ed.), Circulation and Governance of Asian Medicine. Routledge.

 

Conference presentations and invited guest lectures (selection)

21-11-2018	Guest lecture: “Ancient remedy, new promises: Global health, malaria and the Artemisinin Enterprise in Tanzania.“ Forschungskolloqium Ethnologie. Universität Luzern.
22-9-2018	Panel (with M. Quet): “Molecules and people: Flows of pharmaceutical products and persons between India and Africa.“ International Conference Africa-Asia `A New Axis of Knowledge`, 20-22. September, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
22-9-2018	Presentation: “Indian diaspora and medical supply: The postcolonial (re-) constitution of healing markets in Kenya.“ International Conference Africa-Asia `A New Axis of Knowledge`, 20-22. September, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
28-6-2018	Presentation: “Feldforschen im transnationalen Kontext“. Seminar: Medizin und Gesundheit aus sozial-und kulturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin.
8-6-2018	Workshop (with C. Beaudevin): “Medical assemblages, scales, structures“ (Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin/Cermes3-Globhealth, Paris), Freie Universität Berlin.
10-5-2018	Presentation: “Kulturspezifische Wahrnehmung von Erkrankung und Gesundheit”. Diabetes Kongress 2018. 53. Jahrestag der Deutschen Diabetes Gesellschaft, Berlin.
24-1-2018	Workshop (with T. Nienstedt and O. Mwalimu): “Spiritual and religious beliefs and the management of diabetes and hypertension in Zanzibar“. Traditional Unit, Ministry of Health, Zanzibar.
23-9-2017	Presentation: “Medizin und Gesundheit in globalen Feldern: Ansätze aus der Medizinethnologie.“ Medizin und Migration, Fortbildungskongress des Südtiroler Sanitätsbetriebs, Bozen.
29-7-2017	Guest Lecture: “Medizinische Möglichkeiten und Restriktionen in transnationalen Räumen“. Seminar: Medizin und Gesundheit aus sozial-und kulturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin.
13-6-2017	Panel Chair: “Transformations of therapeutics“. Mental Health Workshop: Historical and ethnographic perspectives on the emergence of global mental health (Cermes3-Globhealth), Florence.
6-5-2017	Panel Chair: “Social Anthropology of ‘Well-Being’ - Prekäres Leben: Krieg, Flucht, Migration.“ AG Medical Anthropology Workshop, Institute of Anthropology, Universität Münster, Münster.
17-11-2016	Guest Lecture: “Indian diaspora and pocesses of drug circulation“. East African Researchers Seminar, British Institute in Eastern Africa, Nairobi/Kenya.
26-5-2016	Poster: “Globalizing alternative industrial products: Ayurveda between India and East Africa.“Colloque International: Savoirs, pratiques, politiques. Les transformations contemporaines des mondes de la santé, Cermes3, Paris.
22/23-3-2016	Workshop (with C. Beaudevin): “Studying medical globalization: Historical and anthropological investigations“ (Cermes3-Globhealth, Paris/Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin), Cermes3, Paris.
22-3-2016	Presentation: “South-South alliances: (new) solidarities and power dynamics in Global Health.“ Workshop: Studying medical globalization (Cermes3-Globhealth, Paris/Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin), Cermes3, Paris.
10-11-2015	Presentation: “The transnational circulation of Ayurveda and its relevance for Indo-African linkages“. MAGic Conference on Anthropology and Global Health, University of Sussex, Brighton.
13-2-2015	Poster: “Political-economic implications of the expansion of transnational markets for non-biomedical pharmaceuticals.“ ERC-Inaugural Conference, Bierville, Paris.
23-8-2013	Workshop (with T. Niendstedt and H. Abdallah): “Bridging gaps in healthcare and healing: Traditional healing practices and the management of diabetes.“ Traditional Unit, Ministry of Health, Zanzibar.
6-6-2013	Guest Lecture: “Medicine, power and mobility in global contexts: Malaria in Tanzania.“ Seminar: Medizin und Gesundheit aus sozial-und kulturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin.
16-1-2013	Guest Lecture: “The rise to prominence of Artemisia annua L.: Transformation of a Chinese plant to a global pharmaceutical.“ Anthropology research group on Eastern Medicines and Religions, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oxford.
30-11-2012	Presentation: “Notions of efficacy and innovative Aids therapies in Tanzania“.15. Jahrestag der AG Medical Anthropology, Vienna.
17-11-2012	Presentation: “Crossing borders with(in) medicine: Dialectic efficacy-constructions of an antimalarial-plant.“ Annual Conference of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), San Fransicso/USA.
11-7-2012	Presentation: “Treatment-seeking behavior for malaria in Tanzania – Uncertainty and trust in medicines and therapeutic techniques.“ Annual Conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA), Nanterre University, Paris.
20-6-2012	Guest Lecture: “The rise to prominence of Artemisia annua L.: Transformation of a Chinese plant to a global pharmaceutical.“ La mondialisation de la santé et du medicament au XXe siècle: saviors, industrie, regulation. École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris.
29-6-2011	Workshop (with the Working group Medical Anthropology): “Health and Suffering in an Interconnected World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin, Charité Berlin, Projekt “Mental Health and Migration”, Berlin.
14-6-2011	Panel (with C. Beaudevin): “Social life of medical technologies and pharmaceuticals.“ Annual meeting of Medical Anthropologists Young Scholars (MAYS), University of Warsaw, Warschau.
5-12-2010	Presentation: “Health Politics in an Interconnected World.“ International Essay Competition of the Irmgard Coninx Foundation, the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB), and Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Berlin.
25-9-2010	Presentation: “Artemisinin-basierte Therapien im Spannungsfeld von lokaler Aneignung und globalen (Macht-) Strukturen“. Jahreshauptversammlung Anamed e.V., Stuttgart.
27-8-2010	Presentation: “Medicating crisis: The rise to prominence of Artemisia annua L. – the transformation of a Chinese plant to a global pharmaceutical.“ Annual Conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA), Maynooth.
6-5-2010	Presentation: “Gesundheit global. Forschungen zu Kultur und Medizin“. Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin.