Katrina Karkazis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Katrina Karkazis
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Karkazis at Schulich School of Law in 2018
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| Born | 1970 |
| Nationality | American, Greek |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship (2016) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Anthropology and bioethics |
| Institutions | Amherst College, Stanford University, Honors Academy Brooklyn College, Emory University |
| Thesis | Beyond treatment: mapping the connections among gender, ..., and ... in recent controversies over ... (2002) |
| Doctoral advisor | Carole S. Vance |
| Other academic advisors | Sherry B. Ortner, Shirley Lindenbaum, Lesley Sharp, E. Valentine Daniel |
Katrina Alicia Karkazis (born 1970) is an American scientist who studies people, culture, and the ethics of medicine. She is an expert in two main fields: anthropology (the study of human societies) and bioethics (the study of moral issues in biology and medicine).
Currently, Karkazis is a professor of Gender Studies at Amherst College. She has also worked at other top universities like Yale University and Stanford University. ..... For her important work, she won a famous award called the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2016.
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Education and Career
Katrina Karkazis earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University. She also has a master's degree in public health. After finishing her studies, she spent 15 years as a researcher at Stanford University.
Her work often explores how medicine and society are connected. She looks at how medical treatments affect people's lives and pushes for better, more informed ways to care for patients. She has become a leading expert, and her ideas have been featured in major news outlets like the New York Times and The Guardian.
Important Work and Ideas
Fairness in Sports
Karkazis is also an expert on the rules used in sports to decide who can compete as a woman. Some sports organizations have rules about female athletes' natural testosterone levels. Testosterone is a hormone that all bodies produce, but levels can vary a lot from person to person.
In 2015, Karkazis was part of a major legal case involving an Indian runner named Dutee Chand. The court was asked to decide if it was fair to ban female athletes with naturally high testosterone. Karkazis argued that there wasn't enough scientific proof that high testosterone always gives athletes an unfair advantage.
The court agreed and suspended the rule. It said that sports organizations needed to provide better evidence if they wanted to keep the policy. This was a big moment for fairness in women's sports.
Understanding Testosterone
In 2019, Karkazis co-wrote a book called Testosterone: An Unauthorized Biography. The book challenges common myths about the hormone. Many people think testosterone is just about aggression or being "manly," but Karkazis and her co-author show it's much more complex.
They explain the different roles testosterone plays in the body, from health and reproduction to behavior and even parenting. The book helps readers understand that testosterone is a natural part of everyone's body, not just a simple switch for certain traits.
Awards and Recognition
- Her first book, Fixing ..., was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in 2009.
- It was also nominated for the Margaret Mead Award in 2010, an award for work that explains anthropology to the public.
- In 2016, she received the Guggenheim Fellowship, a prestigious award given to people who have shown exceptional ability in their field.
