Rosemary C. R. Taylor

Rosemary C. R. Taylor, Tufts University, is a political sociologist who studies the comparative history of disease and health policy. She has written widely on epidemics, past and present. Recent research compares US responses with those of the European Union and its member states to cross-border health threats (such as TB, pandemic influenzas, AIDS, Ebola and Zika), especially when their carriers are perceived to be migrants. Her current book project, Risks Unforeseen, is a study of the generation and international transfer of scientific knowledge, with an empirical focus on the history of two blood-borne viruses, Hepatitis C and HIV, and subsequent risk regulation in the United Kingdom and the United States. Collaborative work has developed a new model for understanding how social relations impinge on health. It sees public policymaking as an endeavor that creates or erodes the social resources on which people and communities depend to cope with challenges to their health.