I’m a historian of medicine committed to telling complex, meaningful stories that challenge simplified narratives about health, bodies, and policy. My work focuses on the cultural and political histories of women’s reproductive health and, more recently, the history of psychedelics in psychiatry.

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I’ve authored three books: Building a Better Race (UC Press), Bodies of Knowledge (Chicago), and Coming Home (Oxford), exploring topics from eugenics to midwifery. After 14 years at the University of Cincinnati, I joined Purdue University in 2014 as the Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, where I direct the Medical Humanities Certificate Program and continue an active research and teaching agenda.

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My research has been supported by fellowships from the British Academy and Fulbright, and featured in PBS’s American Experience and Netflix’s Sex, Explained. Outside the classroom, I’m also a SCUBA diver and violinist with the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra