Jen Pylypa

Biography

Jen Pylypa holds a B.A. in anthropology from the University of British Columbia, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in medical and cultural anthropology from the University of Arizona. Her research projects have included ethnographies of children’s fevers and women’s reproductive health in Northeast Thailand, including an examination of local illness perceptions, health care seeking patterns, and responses to public health campaigns. She has also written about medication use among Mexican immigrant and migrant families living in the United States along the Mexican border, and public perceptions surrounding the immigration of physicians and nurses to Canada. Currently, she is conducting research which explores the experiences of Canadians (especially single parents) forming families through transnational adoption, including how they conceptualize and enact ideas about health and well-being in the context of the ‘alternative’ family. Dr. Pylypa has received research grants and fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the American National Science Foundation, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. Her academic background and research have emphasized combining the insights of sociocultural anthropology with a focus on issues of importance to public health and well-being.

Research Interest

Medical anthropology; health and well-being of women and children; transnational adoption; motherhood; single parenthood; immigrant health; self-medication practices; global migration of health workers; Southeast Asia, especially Laos and Thailand; immigrants in North America; Canada