Stakeholder risk assessment of contested technologies
Drawing on the sociology of risk, science and technology studies (STS) and feminist theory, my dissertation research investigated cultural aspects of contraceptive risk/benefit assessments and their ensuing impact on users and professional practice. This project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy, among others. Study findings show that risk evaluations are heavily contested and politicised cultural processes. I found that health risks are downplayed through a gendered selection process, while politicised organisational practices contribute to the diffusion of technological risks. Findings from this project have been published in Social Science and Medicine, Science, Technology & Human Values and Qualitative Health Research. Furthermore, I am currently working on a book manuscript expanding on the implications of these findings for contraceptive research and development policies and the gendered and racialised processes that shape them.
The use of imaging technologies in medical practice
As part of an interdisciplinary collaboration on a Wellcome Trust-funded project with colleagues at Queen Mary University of London, I investigated the development and uptake of imaging biotechnologies in IVF treatment. Using a variety of qualitative methods including lab observations, I looked at the use of such technologies and their incorporated algorithms. Colleagues and I found that regulatory policies do not take stakeholder views into account very effectively. We also found that algorithms rearrange lab practice in new and unexpected ways. Thus, this work has been able to make important connections between biotechnology and the drive for AI-powered diagnostic treatments. Findings have been published in Social Science and Medicine, Qualitative Research, Science, Technology & Human Values, and Sociology of Health and Illness.
Project website: https://remakingthehumanbody.sbm.qmul.ac.uk/
The evolving data infrastructures of fertility tracking technologies
My most recent project investigates the recent surge in AI technologies in reproductive care arenas. The overarching goal of this study is to identify pathways towards beneficial uses of Fertility Tracking Technology (FTT) data as well as the obstacles that stand in the way of such uses. The project seeks to take a unique perspective in investigating developers and medical professionals as key stakeholders alongside users. Drawing on my interest in regulatory biotechnology processes, the project also looks at how commercialized digital health technologies escape regulatory purview and ensuing consequences for users. Through the use of qualitative methods, this project will explore the systemic deficiencies and opportunities in FTT development and data use.
Published work
Geampana, A., & Perrotta, M. (2024). Using interview excerpts to facilitate focus group discussion. Qualitative Research, 14687941241234283. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941241234283
Geampana, A., & Perrotta, M. (2023). Accounting for complexity in healthcare innovation debates: Professional views on the use of new IVF treatments. Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634593221074874
Geampana, A., & Perrotta, M. (2023). Predicting Success in the Embryology Lab: The Use of Algorithmic Technologies in Knowledge Production. Science, Technology, & Human Values. https://doi.org/10.1177/01622439211057105
Perrotta, M. & Geampana, A. (2021). “Enacting evidence-based-medicine in fertility care: Tensions between commercialisation and knowledge standardisation.” Sociology of Health and Illness, 00: 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13381
Perrotta, M. & Geampana, A. (2020). “The trouble with IVF and randomized control trials: Professional legitimation narratives on time-lapse imaging and evidence-informed care.” Social Science & Medicine, 13115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113115
Geampana, A. (2019). Risky Technologies: Systemic Uncertainty in Contraceptive Risk Assessment and Management. Science, Technology, & Human Values. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243919831411
Geampana, A. (2019). “One Blood Clot Is One Too Many”: Affected Vocal Users’ Negative Perspectives on Controversial Oral Contraceptives. Qualitative Health Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732319839027
Geampana, A. (2016). Pregnancy is more dangerous than the pill: a critical analysis of professional responses to the Yaz/Yasmin controversy. Social Science & Medicine, 166: 9-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.08.005