Areas of Expertise: Humanitarian Crises; Peacebuilding; Resilience and Flourishing in War and Forced Migration; Global Health Equity; Mental Health and Stress Biomarkers; Program Evaluations; Research, Policy, and Practice Partnerships.
Dr. Panter-Brick’s CV
Catherine Panter-Brick is the Bruce A. and Davi-Ellen Chabner Professor of Anthropology, Health, and Global Affairs. She holds a joint appointment in the Jackson School of Global Affairs and the Department of Anthropology, with a secondary appointment at the Yale School of Public Health. She is currently the Head of Morse College, and also the Chair of the Council of Heads of Colleges at Yale University.
Panter-Brick leads initiatives to develop sustained, equitable partnerships across research, practice, and policy. Her research and program evaluations with Afghan and Syrian refugees are leading examples of systems-level work on child and adolescent development, mental health, and social cohesion in war-affected communities. She received the Lucy Mair Medal, awarded by the Royal Anthropology Institute to honor excellence in the application of anthropology to the active recognition of human dignity.
Professor Panter-Brick has published ~170 peer-reviewed scientific publications in the biomedical, health, and social sciences. She has coedited eight books, notably Medical Humanitarianism: Ethnographies of Practice and Pathways to Peace, two impact case studies on mental health support and good practice in research in humanitarian contexts, and four policy briefs on sustainable peacebuilding, fathers and peace and equity, religion and social justice, and resilience.
On the issue of resilience and mental health, Panter-Brick has been a keynote speaker at the United Nations, contributed to international media broadcasts, and presented at the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the United States Institute of Peace. Her work with Syrian refugee youth in Jordan is an example of research conducted to learn how interventions can alleviate stress, boost resilience, and improve lives in war-affected communities. It has been showcased in the award-winning documentary Terror and Hope: The Science of Resilience, broadcasted on PBS television networks, and funded by elrha, the global research program informing decision-making in health research in humanitarian crises.
Panter-Brick was raised by a French mother and an English father. Schooled in France and the UK, as well as in Nigeria and Zimbabwe, she studied Human Sciences and Anthropology at Oxford University. Her love for connecting interdisciplinary research to practice and policy was developed through a secondment with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, a sabbatical with the Agence Française de Développement, a visiting position at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, a fellowship at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and a Professorship at Durham University.
At Yale, Panter-Brick directs the Global Health Studies Multidisciplinary Academic Program at the Jackson Institute, and the Program on Conflict, Resilience, and Health at the McMillan Center for International and Area Studies. She is a Past Senior Editor of the interdisciplinary journal Social Science & Medicine, and a Past President of the Human Biology Association.