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Acknowledgments
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Acknowledgments I am deeply indebted to the families in Barbados who welcomed me into their homes and lives. I thank these mothers and fathers for our interactions . Unfortunately, in order to retain their anonymity I cannot provide names or specify further the families and medical workers who helped me, but I will express particular appreciation to Michael, Suzanne, Harold, Mrs. S., Rosie, Flora, and Enrique. I also thank the genetics researchers and facilitators for their interest in and time with the research, particularly Pissamai, Trevor, and Kathleen. My colleagues and dissertation advisers at Princeton have made this work what it is. João Biehl had a seemingly endless supply of time and acuity to offer creative, subtle, and productive readings. I thank him for the depth of his commitment to advising and teaching. Chris Garces’s friendship and radical interpretations have been invaluable to my project and academic trajectory. Our conversations are reflected throughout this text. Emily Martin was a source of constant strength—in my moments of doubt, her courage and integrity were the clearest signs to me of the value of anthropology . I benefited greatly from Carol Greenhouse’s interest in and facility with diverse analytic approaches. Her always close readings of my writings opened new avenues of interpretation of the fieldwork for me. Rena Lederman ’s subtle interest in subtexts and analytic rigor improved the research greatly. Through his teachings and writings, James Boon has changed the way I think about everything; I’m highly indebted to him. Angela Creager’s expansive interest in different disciplinary approaches enriched my understanding of historical trajectories in biology and medicine. Conversations with Michael Oldani on directions in biomedicine have helped me see emerging shifts. I am indebted to Carol Zanca for her help, humor, and warmth. David Jones at MIT and Debra Skinner at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, offered engaging and much needed dialogues about later drafts and interpretations. Other colleagues who have contributed ideas, commentary, and friendship include Sammy Hassan, Chris Roy, Eugene Raikhel, Leo Coleman, and Elizabeth Hough. At Cornell University Press, I especially benefited from thoughtful insights by Peter Wissoker and the extremely helpful anonymous reviewers; I am also grateful to Karen M. Laun, Susan Barnett, and Mary Babcock. My family has given sustained readings and critical attention to the project , in addition to all the other things family provides. My wife, Jennifer, helped me to attend to moments of ambiguity and ambivalence in my own thinking and in that of my informants. My brother Jason helped me to see underlying ontological and epistemological claims throughout. My sister Megan’s approach introduced me to the value of contradictory spaces. My parents, John and Dorothy, have engaged my thoughts with their academic and analytic expertise. To my entire family, those named here and those who have helped in myriad other ways, thank you. This research was made possible by a grant from the Center for Health and Wellbeing of Princeton University. Preparation of the book was supported by a grant from the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Research Program, National Human Genome Research Institute (P20-HG003387) through the Center for Genome Sciences at the University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill, and by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through the Center for the Study of Diversity in Science, Technology, and Medicine at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Parts of chapters 2, 4, and 6 are drawn from my article “Biomedical Ambivalence” in American Ethnologist 35(1) 2008, published by University of California Press and reprinted courtesy the American Anthropological Association. viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS [3.81.30.41] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 14:12 GMT) Biomedical Ambiguity This page intentionally left blank. ...