Craig Janes

Education

• MA Cultural Anthropology, University of Colorado
• PhD Medical Anthropology, University of California Berkeley & San Francisco
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley

Biography

Dr. Janes is interested in globalization and health, in particular the impact of liberal strategies of economic and cultural development on maternal and child health, reproductive health, and access to health care. He has worked on the problem of the globalization of market-based health reform policy since the early 1990s, first in southwestern China (Tibet), and most recently in Mongolia. He has demonstrated that the dominant model for health reform – involving privatization and changes to the scope of primary health care – produces substantial vertical and horizontal inequities in health care access, and exposes the vulnerable poor to further impoverishment when faced with catastrophic illness. Most recently Dr. Janes has begun working on a project intended to develop and apply equity-focused health impact assessment methodologies in development settings.

Research Interests

His current work examines the impact of Mongolia’s socioeconomic and political transition, in the context of increasing environmental hazards linked to climate change, on rural households. Employing epidemiologic, spatial, and qualitative ethnographic methods, the study examines the social, economic, and spatial dimensions of vulnerability among Mongolia’s herding population, and the impact of vulnerability on household health and well-being. Recently he has extended this work to examine and mitigate the impacts of mining development on rural populations, and is currently working at the policy level to bring attention to this issue.

Dr. Janes is also Chair of the Board of the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research, and directs the BC Forum of the Coalition.

Teaching Interests

In addition to his administrative duties, Dr. Janes teaches in the global health program.

Publications and Activities

Funding