My name is Cinzia Greco. I am a first-generation migrant academic, and I work across several countries, languages, and disciplines.

After obtaining degrees in Italian Literature (University of Lecce-Salento), Cultural Anthropology (University of Bologna) and Gender Studies (École des hautes études en sciences sociales), I obtained a PhD in Health, Population and Social Policies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in 2016. My PhD research focused on post-mastectomy breast reconstruction and cosmetic surgery of the breast, and I have in particular explored the experiences and visions that patients and medical professionals have of these surgical procedures in France and Italy. My doctoral research was supported by a Social and Human Sciences doctoral scholarship of the Cancéropôle Île-de-France and was awarded the Barbara Rosenblum Dissertation Scholarship for the Study of Women and Cancer, of the Sociologists for Women in Society. My work is situated at the intersection of medical anthropology, gender studies and the contemporary history of medicine. Between 2016 and 2018 I was a Newton International Fellow, with a project on the recent history of metastatic breast cancer. From 2018 to 2022 I have completed a research project on how medical innovation and healthcare policy impact cancer patients funded by a Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship in Humanities and Social Sciences. Between 2022 and 2023 I have worked on the SCALE project on the experiences of clinical academic careers.

My teaching activities involve PhD, Master and Undergraduate supervision, and I am the coordinator of the Research Skill Module, Science and Society. 

I am also a member of the University Research Ethics Committee. 

I have a strong interest in publishing and editorial activities within academia and I am also Co-Editor-in-Chief of the open-access journal Anthropologie&Santé, the leading francophone journal for medical anthropology.

Since 2023, I have been a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow and the PI of a project on the experiences of medical uncertainty.

My current project, titled "Multi-layered medical uncertainty: The interaction between medical research, the clinic and patient experience in the context of highly uncertain conditions”, funded by the Wellcome Trust, explores the different dimensions of medical uncertainty. The project focuses, in particular, on four conditions: fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, Long Covid and ‘chemobrain’. It combines interviews with people living with these conditions and clinicians and researchers, documental analyses, and analyses of online debates, with a focus on the UK. The key goals of this project are 1) to understand the transformations of these conditions in recent history, including the experiences of patients and medical professionals, 2) to develop resources to raise awareness of the conditions and their impact, in particular among medical students and primary care professionals and 3) to build a wider and more systematic understanding of uncertainty in medicine. 

With a career spanning more than a decade, I have dedicated my research to the social and cultural aspects of cancer, with a particular focus on breast cancer and lung cancer. My work has taken me to France, Italy and the UK, where I have conducted research on a variety of topics including mastectomy and post-mastectomy reconstruction; metastatic breast cancer; the impact of medical innovation and healthcare policy change on patients’ experiences; and the links between the environment, cancer, and health-related geographic mobility.

My research is driven by an interest in patients' experiences, the role of medical professionals in shaping such experiences, and how medical systems shape the experiences of both patients and professionals.

I have more recently taken an interest in autism and neurodiversity, especially in the inclusion in the category of previously under-recognised groups (including women, people diagnosed in adulthood, ethnic and racial minorities, and people with a working-class background) and in the links between larger transformations in sociality and the changes in autism.

I am currently writing a monograph about the interactions between autism, feminism and gender tentatively titled "Divergent Feminism: Gender, Neurodiversity and Mental Health".

If you want to know more about my work on autism, you can watch a presentation I gave at the London Metropolitan University. 

I have also participated in several events to discuss the interaction between autism and gender, including artistic events. If you want to know more, you can check out this article I co-wrote about an art event on (in)visible disabilities.

2018-2021: Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship in Humanities and Social Science

2016-2018: Newton International Fellowship  

2016: Barbara Rosenblum Dissertation Scholarship for the Study of Women and Cancer – Sociologists for Women in Society  

2011-2014: Social and Human Sciences doctoral scholarship – Cancéropôle Île-de-France  

Travel grants: 2014 – Feminist Theory Workshop, Duke University; 2013 – European Sociological Association general conference, PhD Workshop, Turin