Shana D. Hughes PhD, MPH

Shana D. Hughes, PhD, MPH, is an assistant investigator at Vitalant Research Institute (VRI). As an applied medical anthropologist, she often employs qualitative and ethnographic methods to investigate questions raised by clinical or epidemiological data, such as why people engage in particular behaviors, and what those behaviors mean to them. Fundamentally, her research attends to the way notions of risk, identity and relationships - which take shape within personal, socio-cultural, and historical contexts - are implicated in health decisions, with the aim of understanding how this knowledge might be applied to improve health outcomes. Dr. Hughes's research program at VRI is centered on blood donation, theorizing it as a bio sociocultural process and seeking ways to translate research findings into practice. Her ultimate goal is to contribute to building the safe and sufficient blood supply required to meet the demands of current and future patients.