Louise Bezuidenhout

Louise Bezuidenhout joined the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society at the University of Oxford School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography as a research fellow in February 2017. She currently works on the Changing Ecologies of Knowledge and Action (CEKA) project. Louise’s research interests are broadly centred on data sharing issues within the life sciences.  In particular, she is interested in how the data produced during scientific experimentation enters into circulation, and how it is valued by potential downstream users.  Her work involves a strong empirical component, including a number of ethnographic studies in laboratories in the UK, USA, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.

Trained in both the life and social sciences, Louise holds a PhD in Cardiothoracic Surgery from the University of Cape Town (South Africa, 2007) and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Exeter (UK, 2014).  She also holds an MA in bioethics from KU Leuven (Belgium, 2008).  She has previously worked as a research fellow at the University of Exeter and the University of Notre Dame (USA).  In addition to her work at InSIS, Louise remains an honorary lecturer at the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and is active in various initiatives advocating for better education on Open Data for scientists.

This PECE essay helps to answer the STS Across Borders analytic question: “What people, projects, and products exemplify how this STS formation has developed over time?”

This essay highlights prominant and upcoming individuals working on critical science and technology issues in Africa and is part of a broader exhibit on "STS in Africa."