Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer is a
medical anthropologist
Medical anthropology studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It views humans from multidimensional and ecological
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, includin ...
and
epidemiologist
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
specializing in the study of fertility and HIV. A former associate professor of Population and International Health at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, Obermeyer was director of the Center for Research on Population and Health at the
American University of Beirut as of 2013. She has also worked for the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
's Department of HIV/AIDS.
Obermeyer is the editor of ''Family, Gender and Population in the Middle East'' (1995) and ''Cultural Perspectives on Reproductive Health'' (2001). She has called for more rigorous studies into the health effects of
female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
.
[John Tierney]
"'Circumcision' or 'Mutilation'? And Other Questions About a Rite in Africa"
''The New York Times'', 5 December 2007.
Education
*1988, D.Sc.
Harvard School of Public Health
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard- MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's firs ...
, Population, Maternal / Child Health, Behavioral Sciences
*1983, M.Sc. Epidemiology,
American University of Beirut
*1976, M.A. Anthropology, American University of Beirut
*1973 B.A. Sociology (with distinction), American University of Beirut
References
Further reading
*Obermeyer, Carla
"Female Genital Surgeries: The Known, the Unknown and the Unknowable" ''Medical Anthropology Quarterly'', 31(1), 1999, pp. 79–106.
*Obermeyer, Carla
"The Health Consequences of Female Circumcision: Science, Advocacy, and Standards of Evidence" ''Medical Anthropology Quarterly'', 17(3), September 2002, pp. 394–412.
*Obermeyer, Carla
"The Consequences of Female Circumcision for Health and Sexuality: An Update on the Evidence" ''Medical Anthropology Quarterly'', 7(5), September–October 2005, pp. 443–461.
*Jacobson, Jodi L.; Ibrahim, Barbara; and Obermeyer, Carla Makhlouf
, ''The Washington Post'', 4 September 1994.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obermeyer, Carla
Medical anthropologists
Female genital mutilation
Living people
Harvard School of Public Health faculty
Harvard School of Public Health alumni
American University of Beirut alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)