Candace Massey

I’m a PhD Student in the History stream at the IHPST. Prior to the PhD program, I completed a BA (University of British Columbia, 2014) and an MA in Anthropology (Simon Fraser University, 2017). My research interests are in the history of population genetics, science and technology studies, and the anthropology and history of exchange.

My dissertation explores the multi-sited exchange practices surrounding the collection, storage, and sale of human blood collections acquired from applied medical studies with island communities during the 1990s. This includes examining the shifting boundaries between academic research centers and the commercial biotechnology sector in the mid-twentieth century, and the role that value plays in the creation and circulation of DNA-based ‘bio’ objects in global biomedical supply chains. Identifying flows and breaks in the circuity of these supply chains, I’m interested in exploring how DNA comes to be mobilized in the multiple, entangled world-making practices of communities, scientists, and national economic and science policy advisory committees.