Dr Sayani Mitra BA, MA, PhD

Personal Statement

Sayani Mitra is a postdoctoral research associate working on Dr. Lucy Firth's Wellcome Trust funded project titled 'Global Perspective on the governance of Assisted Reproductive Technologies'. She is a sociologist with expertise in social studies of biotechnologies, ethics of reproductive technologies, global health, comparative health research, political economy and South Asian Studies. Before joining Liverpool, Sayani was a postdoctoral researcher in the OPARA Project (Organised patient participation in healthcare) at the Institute of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Goettingen, Germany.

She received her PhD from the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Göttingen, Germany being based at the Institute of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine. She was awarded the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) PhD. fellowship (2013-17) to carry out this doctoral research. Her PhD. thesis titled ‘Disruptive embodiments: a study of risks and failures during commercial surrogacy in India' examined the seldom discussed aspects of risks and disruptions during commercial surrogacy practices in India. This thesis was awarded the best PhD thesis prize for the year 2017 by the University of Goettingen. She has published her research in peer-reviewed journals and has recently edited a book titled ‘Cross-Cultural Comparisons on Surrogacy and Egg Donation: Interdisciplinary perspectives from India, Germany and Israel (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

During April 2016- May 2016, she was a visiting researcher at the Sociology of Reproduction Research Group (ReproSoc) at the University of Cambridge under Professor Sarah Franklin. From June 2014-2016, she was an associate student at the DFG Research Training Group "Dynamics of Space and Gender”, Göttingen. She holds a master’s degree in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India and a bachelor’s degree (Honours) in Sociology from Lady Shri Ram College for Woman, Delhi University, India.