Headshot of Kathy Trang1st Place Winner

Kathy Trang

Emory University

Kathy Trang is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Emory University. Her doctoral research examined the biological and psychosocial pathways contributing to HIV and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder comorbidity among young men who have sex with men in Hanoi, Vietnam. Integrating clinic-based measures with wearable and mobile technology, her work elucidated the ongoing impact of trauma exposure on the body and clarified the contextual and social conditions of everyday life that may contribute towards the development or maintenance of trauma-related psychopathology over time. Her work has been supported by the PHRMA Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, the UJMT NIH Fogarty Fellowship, the Robert Lemelson Foundation/Society for Psychological Anthropology Fellowship, and the Multidisciplinary Global Health Team Award and Pilot Grant from the Global Health Institute and Center for Mind, Brain, Culture at Emory University, among others.

Headshot of Aberdeen McEvers2nd Place

Aberdeen McEvers

Macalester College

Aberdeen is a recent graduate of Macalester College, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and International Studies with a concentration in Human Rights. Her research interests include feminist anthropology, studies in intersectionality and systems of oppression. These interests are highlighted in her ethnographic research on the interaction between social service institutions and histories of oppression. Her research explores how and why social service institutions challenge the oppressive structures their beneficiaries face while simultaneously adopting the very ideology that upholds these structures, with a special focus on how the use of this ideology impacts beneficiaries’ perception of self. Aberdeen is currently putting her research into practice through her direct service work with young people experiencing sex trafficking.

Headshot of Olivia Marcus3rd Place Winner

Olivia Marcus

Columbia University

Olivia Marcus received her MPH in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University. She has co-authored articles on the 2014/15 Ebola epidemic, plant medicine in the Peruvian Amazon, and the mental health implications of the use of ayahuasca shamanism among diverse populations. Her doctoral fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon explores the use of Amazonian shamanism for mental wellness and the processes of professionalization and legitimization of traditional Amazonian medicine among locals and foreigners. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in San Martín and Loreto, her dissertation explains the ways in which intercultural dialogues effect changes in worldview among clientele and practitioners through the growing plurality of healing methods offered in these regions.