Nora Ellen Groce is an anthropologist,

global health Global health is the health of populations in a worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". Problems th ...

expert and Director of the Disability Research Centre at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. She is known for her work on vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries and in particular for her work on

people with disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

in the developing world. Her doctoral dissertation, published by

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

in 1985, ''Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha’s Vineyard'', is considered a classic work in the

disability studies Disability studies is an academic discipline that examines the meaning, nature, and consequences of disability. Initially, the field focused on the division between "impairment" and "disability", where impairment was an impairment of an individual ...

and ethnographic literatures. An undergraduate major in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

(1974), she received her PhD in

medical anthropology Medical anthropology studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It views humans from multidimensional and ecological perspectives. It is one of the most highly developed areas of anthropology and appli ...

from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

and then served as Research Fellow at the

Harvard University Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the United States. It provides patient ca ...

from 1984 to 1990. She joined the faculty of the

Yale School of Public Health The Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) was founded in 1915 by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow and is one of the oldest public health masters programs in the United States. YSPH is both a department (established in 1915) within the school of medic ...

from 1991 to 2008, rising to the rank of associate professor. In 2008 she left the

to take the Leonard Cheshire Chair and become director of the Leonard Cheshire Disability Research Centre at the University College of London. Groce has undertaken applied research on subjects such as

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

and

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, d ...

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

, the impact of

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

on people with disabilities, and disabled populations’ access to

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

and

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

. Among her most recent work is her publication on disabled street beggars in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

(2013), and on the emerging issue of Global disabilities for the ''Lancet'' (2018). Author of over 250 journal articles, books and reports, she is a regular adviser for UN agencies, national governments and non-governmental organisations. She sits on a number of scientific advisory panels and review boards. Groce is also known for her teaching and mentoring. While a research scientist at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

she regularly taught

and international health courses. Working with Professor Lowell Levin, she helped establish and run the Global Health Division at the

in 1991, teaching a number of courses on global health,

international development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic development, economic or human development (economics), human development on an international sca ...

and

Notable works

*Groce, Nora Ellen (1985). ''Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. . Retrieved 25 June 2015. *Groce N. 2018. "Global Disability: An emerging issue". ''Lancet Global Health'': 6:7:724-725

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groce, Nora Living people University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Medical anthropologists American women anthropologists Brown University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women