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 broadly concerned with issues related to gender and health in post-conflict and humanitarian settings, with a regional emphasis on West Africa. Specific interests include the social dynamics of epidemics and how individuals and communities navigate healthcare needs in contexts of extreme resource scarcity. Her current research focuses on community-based responses to the synthetic drugs crisis in Sierra Leone.

• Courses Taught

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

• Selected Publications

  Theodossiou, Isabelle, Kristen McLean, Beth Sundstrom, and Cara Delay. 2025. “Exploring Barriers to Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare for Latina Women in South Carolina.” Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 27: 1027-1034. 

  Malcolm, Liza J., and Kristen E. McLean. 2025. “COVID-19 Vaccine Anxieties: Exploring Social and Political Drivers of Vaccine Attitudes in Kono District, Sierra Leone.” Journal of Biosocial Science 57(2): 179-194.

  McLean, Kristen E. 2024. “Ebola Lessons: Did Prior Epidemic Experience Protect against the Spread of COVID-19 in Sierra Leone?” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 38(2): 164-178.

  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

  School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs Faculty Research Grant (2021, 2025, 2026) 

  College of Charleston Faculty Research Grant (2025)

  International Studies Department Signature Series Research, Publication and Professional Development Grant (2024, 2025)

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

  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) 

  Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society (inducted 2008)