Kristen McLean, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Learn more about Dr. McLean

• Education

  Ph.D., Anthropology, Yale University (2019) 
  M.P.H., Emory University (2012) 
  B.A., Emory University (2008) 

• Research Interests

  Kristen McLean is an anthropologist by training who specializes in medical anthropology and global health. Her research is concerned with issues related to gender, youth, violence, and mental health in post-conflict and humanitarian settings. Other interests include the social dynamics of infectious disease outbreaks (particularly Ebola and Covid-19). She works primarily in the West African countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia. 

• Courses Taught

  Introduction to International Studies 
  Introduction to African Studies 
  Issues and Approaches in International Studies 
  Health & Society in Global Perspective 
  Epidemics and Pandemics in Global Perspective 

• Selected Publications

  McLean, Kristen E. 2024. “Ebola Lessons: Did Prior Epidemic Experience Protect against the Spread of COVID-19 in Sierra Leone?” Medical Anthropology Quarterly DOI: 10.1111/maq.12850.

  McLean, Kristen E., and Liza Malcom. 2023. “More than Disease: Uncovering the Political, Social, and Economic Consequences of Covid-19 in Sierra Leone.” African Studies Review 66(4):899-921. 

  McLean, Kristen E. 2023. “Contemplating Abortion: A Qualitative Study of Men and Women’s  Reactions to Unplanned Pregnancy in Sierra Leone.” Culture, Health & Sexuality 25(4):444-458.

  
  

  McLean, Kristen E., and Elyse J. Thulin. 2022. “‘If the Woman Doesn’t Prevent, You Will Become  Pregnant’: Exploring Male Involvement in Contraceptive Use Preceding Unplanned Pregnancy in Sierra Leone.” Studies in Family Planning 53(1): 153-171. 
  

  McLean, Kristen E. 2021. “‘Post-crisis Masculinities’ in Sierra Leone: Revisiting Masculinity Theory.”  Gender, Place & Culture 28(6): 786-805. 
  

  McLean, Kristen E.  2020. “Men’s Experiences of Pregnancy and Childbirth in Sierra Leone:  Reexamining Definitions of ‘Male Partner Involvement.’” Social Science & Medicine 265: 113479. 
  

  McLean, Kristen E. 2020. “Active Waithood: Youthmen, Fatherhood, and Men’s Educational Aspirations in Sierra Leone.” In Waithood: Gender, Education, and Global Delays in Marriage and Childbearing, edited by Marcia C. Inhorn and Nancy J. Smith-Hefner. New York: Berghahn Books. 
  

  McLean, Kristen E. 2019. “Caregiving in Crisis: Fatherhood Refashioned by Sierra Leone’s Ebola Epidemic.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 34(2): 227-242. 
  

  Henderson, Rebecca, and Kristen E. McLean. 2019. “When the Patient Comes Third: The Navigation of Moral and Practical Dilemmas in the Context of Pregnancy and Risk during the 2013-2015 Ebola Epidemic in Sierra Leone.” In Pregnant in the Time of Ebola—Women and their Children in the 2013-2015 West African Epidemic, edited by Sharon A. Abramowitz, Julienne N. Anoko, and David A. Schwartz. Springer Press. 
  

  McLean, Kristen E., Sharon A. Abramowitz, Jacob D. Ball, Josephine Monger, Kodjo Tehoungue, and Patricia A. Omidian. 2018. “Community-based Reports of Morbidity, Mortality and Health-seeking Behaviors in Four Monrovia Communities during the West African Ebola Epidemic.” Global Public Health 13(5): 528-44. 
  

  Abramowitz, Sharon A., Kristen E. McLean, Sarah L. McKune, Kevin L. Bardosh, Mosoka Fallah, Josephine Monger, Kodjo Tehoungue, and Patricia A. Omidian. 2015. “Community-centered Responses to Ebola in Urban Liberia: The View from Below.” PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 9(5): e0003767. 

• Honors & Awards

  Summer Undergraduate Research with Faculty (SURF) Grant (2022) 

  School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs Faculty Research Grant (2021) 

  Peace and Security Scholar Award, United States Institute of Peace (2018) 

  Philanthropic Education Organization (P.E.O.) Scholar Award (2017) 

  Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Research Award (2015) 

  National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (2015) 

  Fulbright U.S. Student Award, Sierra Leone (declined) (2015)