My research focuses on past and present cultural encounters in medicine, where global exchanges have re-defined our ideas of the body, diseases, treatments, healthcare, and life.
My doctoral research analyzes how the concepts of “Western” medicine and “traditional” medicine emerged in Japanese colonial Taiwan. I focus on two areas: (1) exchanges, adaptions, and resistances that took place regarding medical knowledge, and (2) colonial politics and economics that intertwined with medical knowledge. I also explore conflicts in current bioethical standards governing embryonic research. For example, I have devoted considerable attention to the diverse conceptions of embryos across cultures. My recent project explores how nutraceuticals that are made from traditional herbs have changed our understanding of health and human enhancements and have helped shape hybrid conceptions of medicines and supplements, be they traditional or modern, natural or artificial.
2021 PhD in Science and Technology Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
2009 MA in Sociology, National Tsing Hua University (Hsinchu, Taiwan)
2005 BA in Sociology and Social work, National Cheng Chi University
Manuscripts
“Lost in Bioethics? The Mistranslation of Embryo Politics.”under review
Presentations
2019 “The Translation between Biomedicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine in Colonial Taiwan (1895–1945).” Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Conference, New Orleans (September)
2018 “The Licensing and Supervision System for Practitioners of Traditional Medicine and Its Impact on Their Practices in Colonial Taiwan.” Intersections of Colonialism and Medicine in East Asia Conference, Pittsburgh (March)
2017 “‘Embryo’: The Cultural Roots of Stem Cell Ethics and Policies.” Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Conference, Boston (August)
