Awa Diagne

Awa is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology. Raised in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, she is interested in examining the social and cultural narratives around race, ethnicity and national identity that Canadian blood collection agencies enact through donor recruitment programs, donation policy and transfusion medicine research programs. She is keen on tracing how these narratives are tied to broader projects of biosecuritization that various actors across the country are actively reimagining and contesting, ranging from patient advocacy organizations, to activists, to healthcare practitioners, to researchers.

Beyond her research interests in medical anthropology, Awa is also deeply interested in the politics of technology and committed to tech justice. Prior to her doctoral studies, she worked with community organizations such as Women’s Shelters Canada and OpenMedia on projects that worked toward increasing safe and affordable access to critical telecommunications and internet services. She completed her BA in sociocultural anthropology and MA in the history & philosophy of science and technology at the University of Toronto