DrCaroline Ackley

I hold a PhD in Medical Anthropology from UCL and have worked in the Horn of Africa since 2009. My research is focused on women's health, whether that's life course development, maternal and perinatal experiences, experiences living with skin NTDs, or return of health information. I seek to understand how the influences of power, hegemony, structual violence, and inequality influence women's experiences through a ground-level ethnographic approach. I also utilise qualitative, participatory, and creative methods. More recently, I aim to use anthropological evidence for engagement with the public and to influence policy.

My current research is part of a growing research programme on translational medicine and, specifically, patient perspectives on current developments. I am developing qualitative research identifying the views of clinicians and participants in studies involving the collection of biological and genetic data about their views on the return of personal health information and risk-based recall studies.

From 2019-2026 my research focused on the skin NTD mycetoma in Sudan as part of the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neglected Tropical Diseases. I work on medical anthropology approaches to community engagement as part of a work package on implementation research. As part of this I worked with a 4th year medical student to theoretically reconceptualise women's experiences of vulnerability with skin NTDs.

I was previously based in Harar, Ethiopia from 2017-2019 with LSHTM where I was the lead social scientist for the Hararghe Health Research Partnership, and led the social science component of the Gates funded study Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) in Ethiopia, as well as a Wellcome Trust funded study on stillbirth. I led a photo-voice project with mothers aimed at changing the narrative on health in the community by showcasing the ways women keep their children healthy and strong. I also led a Theatre for Development project where community members engaged in public discussion on causes of stillbirth.

I explored women's life course development in Somaliland as part of my PhD studies from 2013-2018. I conducted 18 consecutive months of fieldwork in Hargeysa, Somaliland exploring women's life course as an entanglement of moralities, time, and selves. I ethnographically explored the relationships women have with their bodies, other women in the community, the divine, and their husbands. I was privy to discussions between religious leaders and female activists on the morality, religion, and policies surrounding female genital cutting. I attended family and marriage classes called Qoys Kaab for young, unmarried women to prepare themselves for the next steps in their lives. I also joined a a mystical women's prayer group where we celebrated the powerful women of Islam through pilgrimages, chanting, and dance.