Round 2

Suvi Jaakkola

Nationality

Finnish

Career-level

Mid-career

Host institution

Edinburgh Centre for Medical Anthropology (EdCMA)

United Kingdom

Residency project

Beyond the Clinical: Humanizing Science Journalism on Health and Illness with Medical Anthropology

The goal of my project is to establish myself as a science journalist specialized in covering medical anthropology, and to build expertise that will allow me to encourage and educate other science journalists on reporting in this frontier area of research.

To achieve this, close interaction with and observation of active research projects is vital—making this career move challenging in Finland, where medical anthropology is neither taught nor studied. I also aim to transition from domestic to international science journalism, a goal this fellowship could significantly advance.

I will devote my residency to an in-depth exploration of medical anthropology through various ongoing research projects at Edinburgh Centre for Medical Anthropology; gathering insights, materials, and story ideas that will inform a vast amount of science journalistic content through my post-residency career. I’ve secured an agreement with a production company for a podcast on mental health from a medical anthropology perspective, which I’ll begin drafting based on my interactions with EdCMA’s Global Mental Health Research Network.

I have also notified several domestic and international media outlets about my project and will begin pitching detailed story ideas in the latter part of the residency. While exploring the research being conducted at EdCMA, I will draw on my extensive editorial experience to identify the most effective professional practices (e.g. storytelling techniques, article formats) for presenting medical anthropology research to diverse audiences and tackling field-specific challenges, such as the scientific credibility of ethnographic research data in the media.

I will actively collaborate with EdCMA staff to explore these questions. The goal is to develop guidelines and approaches that I can share with other science journalists. Additionally, I will look for ways to better connect research findings from this field with science journalists globally

The opportunity to dive into medical anthropology and establish myself in this niche intrigued me. FRONTIERS also presented a chance to shift my career from domestic to international science journalism. I believe this residency will be a turning point in my career.
By the end of it, I expect to have my first international publications, a wealth of ideas for future work, and a global network of researchers and science journalists. I’m excited to bring greater visibility to medical anthropology, and hope to inspire other science journalists to venture into this underrepresented area, offering fresh perspectives to health journalism.