Current Research

I lead the Australian National University (ANU) Justice and Technoscience Lab (JusTech), a group of scholars working to advance more equitable approaches to science and technology governance. Lab members have carried out studies in several domains, including government services, health promotion, humanitarianism, and public safety. My current projects focus on:

Digital Public Infrastructure and Social Protection

Automated systems, biometrics, predictive analytics, and risk assessment models are increasingly used in accessing social assistance. They are also tools being institutionalized through digital public infrastructure (DPI). We ask: how is DPI shaping experiences on the ground, and what are the implications for governance? Jenna Imad Harb and I have studied humanitarian aid and social protection in Australia, India, and Lebanon and are editing a book that features grounded examples of tensions often attributed to the rise of the “digital welfare state” (forthcoming with Oxford University Press).

Governing for Gender and Racial Equity in Health Research and Sports

For over twenty years, I have studied how health research and regulation can contribute to gender and racial inequity. Identifying both inadvertent and intended forms of exclusion, this research has sought to offer corrective insights to improve governance practice. This work has examined gender- and sex-specific rules, organized sports, and scientific knowledge production. My recent book (with Matt Ventresca), Violent Impacts: How Power and Inequality Shape the Concussion Crisis, scrutinizes how law, science, and social inequalities shape depictions and understandings of brain injury.

State-Led AI Development and Governance

This project examines government plans informing national artificial intelligence (AI) strategies in Southeast Asia. Sarah Logan and I situate questions about the push for these and related forms of AI development within discussions of state interests and governance systems, considering how participatory engagement with communities traditionally not included in AI design might be possible. We hope our findings can support human-centered AI practices that are attentive to the distinct conditions and needs of groups that can be marginalized in these efforts.