- Biggane, A.M., Young, B., Williamson, P.R., Whittingham, E. and Cooper, J. (2022). Enhancing patient and public contribution in health outcome selection during clinical guideline development: an ethnographic study. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1). doi:10.1186/s12913-022-07736-6.
- Machin, L.L., Cooper, J., Dixon, H. and Wilkinson, M. (2022). Organ donation in principle and in practice: tensions and healthcare professionals’ troubled consciences. BioSocieties, 17(3), pp. 347–367. doi:10.1057/s41292-020-00219-z.
- Rotheram, S., Cooper, J., Barr, B. and Whitehead, M. (2022). Linking pathogens, people and places: Using geo-ethnography to understand place-based, socio-economic inequalities in gastrointestinal infections in the UK. Health & Place, 74, pp. 102741–102741. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102741.
- Cooper, J. (2021). Time, resourcing, and ethics: how the routinisation of organ donation after circulatory death in the NHS has created new ethical issues. Critical Public Health pp. 1–11. doi:10.1080/09581596.2021.2005241.
- Rotheram, S., Cooper, J., Barr, B. and Whitehead, M. (2021). How are inequalities generated in the management and consequences of gastrointestinal infections in the UK? An ethnographic study. Social Science & Medicine, 282, pp. 114131–114131. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114131.
- Cooper, J., Harvey, D. and Gardiner, D. (2020). Examining consent for interventional research in potential deceased organ donors: a narrative review. Anaesthesia, 75(9), pp. 1229–1235. doi:10.1111/anae.15039.
- (2020). Correction: What is the qualitative evidence concerning the risks, diagnosis, management and consequences of gastrointestinal infections in the community in the United Kingdom? A systematic review and meta-ethnography. PLOS ONE, 15(3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0230468.
- Rotheram, S., Cooper, J., Ronzi, S., Barr, B. and Whitehead, M. (2020). What is the qualitative evidence concerning the risks, diagnosis, management and consequences of gastrointestinal infections in the community in the United Kingdom? A systematic review and meta-ethnography. PLOS ONE, 15(1). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0227630.
- Lemon, J., Cooper, J., Defres, S., Easton, A., Sadarangani, M., Griffiths, M.J. … Kneen, R. (2019). Understanding parental perspectives on outcomes following paediatric encephalitis: A qualitative study. PLOS ONE, 14(9). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0220042.
- Bruce, N., de Cuevas, R.A., Cooper, J., Enonchong, B., Ronzi, S., Puzzolo, E. … Pope, D. (2018). The Government-led initiative for LPG scale-up in Cameroon: Programme development and initial evaluation. Energy for Sustainable Development, 46, pp. 103–110. doi:10.1016/j.esd.2018.05.010.
- Cooper, J. (2018). Organs and organisations: Situating ethics in organ donation after circulatory death in the UK. Social Science & Medicine, 209, pp. 104–110. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.05.042.
- Cooper, J., Kierans, C., Defres, S., Easton, A., Kneen, R. and Solomon, T. (2017). Care beyond the hospital ward: understanding the socio-medical trajectory of herpes simplex virus encephalitis. BMC Health Services Research, 17(1). doi:10.1186/s12913-017-2608-2.
- Cooper, J. (2017). Problematising the ethics of organ donation after circulatory death in the UK. Critical Public Health, 27(4), pp. 499–505. doi:10.1080/09581596.2016.1225948.
- Defres, S., Keller, S.S., Das, K., Vidyasagar, R., Parkes, L.M., Burnside, G. … Solomon, T. (2017). A Feasibility Study of Quantifying Longitudinal Brain Changes in Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Encephalitis Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Stereology. PLOS ONE, 12(1). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170215.
- Cooper, J., Kierans, C., Defres, S., Easton, A., Kneen, R. and Solomon, T. (2016). Diagnostic Pathways as Social and Participatory Practices: The Case of Herpes Simplex Encephalitis. PLOS ONE, 11(3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151145.
- Cooper, J. and Kierans, C. (2016). Organ donation, ethnicity and the negotiation of death: ethnographic insights from the UK. Mortality, 21(1), pp. 1–18. doi:10.1080/13576275.2015.1021314.
- Kierans, C. and Cooper, J. (2013). The emergence of the ‘ethnic donor’: the cultural production and relocation of organ donation in the UK. Anthropology & Medicine, 20(3), pp. 221–231. doi:10.1080/13648470.2013.845480.
- Kierans, C. and Cooper, J. (2011). Organ donation, genetics, race and culture: The making of a medical problem (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate). Anthropology Today, 27(6), pp. 11–14. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8322.2011.00837.x.
- Cooper, H., Cooper, J. and Milton, B. (2009). Technology-based approaches to patient education for young people living with diabetes: a systematic literature review. Pediatric Diabetes, 10(7), pp. 474–483. doi:10.1111/j.1399-5448.2009.00509.x.
Contact details
Address
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom
About
Overview
Jessie is a medical sociologist with expertise in ethnographic and narrative approaches to studies of medical practice, technoscience, and health inequalities. Her main areas of research are: 1) the social practices and politics of organ donation and transplantation. Jessie's work in this area has critically examined the institutional production of ‘the minority ethnic organ donor’ and ethnic inequalities in transplantation, in the context of UK organ donation and allocation practices. Jessie is currently working on projects on the ethics-in-practice of organ donation after circulatory death, and an NHS Blood and Transplant funded evaluation of consent processes for interventional donor research 2) Critical approaches to the study of science, technology and medicine, which develops research at the intersections of the social, medical and natural sciences. Jessie's research in this area includes: narrative research on delayed diagnoses and outcomes in viral encephalitis; a study on contextual issues in rolling out clean fuel for cooking in Cameroon; and examining diagnostic problems and knowledge production in transplant, reproductive, and neurological medicine.
Qualifications
- PhD - Medical Sociology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- MA Research Methodology (Sociology), University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- BA Cultural Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
- Certificate in Professional Studies, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Employment
- Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Health, City, University of London, Aug 2021 – present
- Lecturer in the Sociology of Health, City, University of London, Sep 2017 – Aug 2021
- Lecturer in the Sociology of Public Health, The University of Liverpool, Jul 2013 – Aug 2017
- Research Associate in Social Science, The University of Liverpool, Feb 2012 – Jun 2013
Visiting appointments
- Honorary Lecturer in Public Health, University of Liverpool
Memberships of professional organisations
- Fellow, Higher Education Academy
Teaching
Module Leader:
SC1005: Health, Illness and Society (BSc Health and Social Care)
HRM002: Advanced Research Methods
APM002: MSc Dissertation Module (Period 2)
Contribute to:
HRM001: Introduction to Research Methods and Applied Data Analysis SC1001: Introduction to Health and Social Care
CRM003: MRes Dissertation
Research
Current and Recently Completed Research
Current Grants:
Jessie is currently PI for an NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT)-funded qualitative evaluation of consent processes in interventional donor research in the context of deemed consent (£103,000).
Recently completed research:
Jessie held a Pump Priming award (£3224; 2018-2019) from City, University of London for the study: 'Making Ethics (at) Work: Understanding the practice of organ donation after circulatory death in the UK
Jessie also secured funding in 2017 from The University of Liverpool’s Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (£1695), and from the School of Law’s Research and Development Fund (£3000, with Dr Sean Columb) to host the research symposium: Organs, Tissues, Contexts: Politics and Practices in the Era of Transplant Medicine (22nd September 2017, The University of Liverpool).
Other Research Activities:
Research Collaborator - Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions: Methods for involving patients in core outcome set development (with Professor Paula Williamson, Professor Bridget Young and Alice Biggane).
Research Advisor – NIHR Health Protection Research Unit: Gastro-Intestinal Infections: Exploring Socio-Economic and Behavioural Factors in Gastro-Intestinal Infections (PI: Professor Dame Margaret Whitehead; £3.9 million).
Completed Research:
Co-Investigator (with Professor Nigel Bruce [PI] and Dr Dan Pope) on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Case Study on the scale-up of LPG for cooking in Cameroon ($29,482; 2017-2018).
Co-Investigator: ESRC Transformative Social Sciences: Pump Priming Technological Affordances: Transformations in Society and Science. (PI: Dr Ciara Kierans, £9369)
Post-Doctoral Research: NIHR: ENCEPH UK: Understanding and Improving the Outcomes of viral encephalitis. (PI: Professor Tom Solomon, £1.9 million)
PhD Studentship: Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness: Organ Donation and Ethnicity: Unpicking the Formulation of a Problem
Research Expertise
Qualitative research, in particular ethnographic and narrative methodologies;
Organ donation and transplantation
Critical theory and Science and Technologies Studies (STS) approaches to the study of health, medicine and technology
Research students
Haddijatou Ceesay
Attendance: Feb 2019 – Feb 2022
Thesis title: Understanding the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Young People in The Gambia: A Mixed-Methods Study
Role: 2nd Supervisor
Suzie Rotherham
Thesis title: Risk, Vulnerability and consequences of gastrointestinal infections in the United Kingdom
Role: 2nd Supervisor
Stephanie Meysner
Thesis title: Diagnosing the Cancer-Patient-in-Liverpool
Publications
Publications by category
Chapter
- Kierans, C. and Cooper, (2013). Organ donation, genetics, race and culture. In Callan, H., Street, B. and Underdown, S. (Eds.), Introductory Readings in Anthropology Oxford: Berghan Books.
Journal articles (19)
Professional activities
Events/conferences (16)
- Centre for Medical, Science and Technology Studies. (Public lecture) The University of Copenhagen (2019). Invited speaker.
Paper: Making ethics at work: understanding the practice of organ donation after circulatory death in the UK
Author: Cooper, J - ELPAT Congress. (Conference) University of Krakow, Poland (2019).
Paper: Contextualising the ethics of organ donation after circulatory death in the UK
Author: Cooper, J - ELPAT Congress. (Conference) University of Krakow, Poland (2019).
Paper: Examining the process of consent for interventional donation research
Author: Cooper, J
Co-authors: Harvey, D.; Gardiner, D. - Encephalitis Conference 2017. (Conference) London, UK (2017).
Paper: Care beyond the hospital ward: understanding the socio-medical trajectory of herpes simplex virus encephalitis
Author: Cooper, J.
Co-authors: Kierans, C., Defres, S., Kneen, R., Easton, A., Solomon, T. - Organs Tissues Contexts: Politics and practices in the era of transplant medicine. The University of Liverpool (2017). Chair and Organising Committee.
Paper: Introduction: Organs, Tissues, Contexts
Author: Cooper, J.
Co-authors: Columb, S. - BSA Deconstructing Donation Study Group. University of Lancaster (2016).
Paper: Problematising the ethics of organ donation after circulatory death in the UK
Author: Cooper, J - Death, Dying and Disposal Conference (DDD 12). (Conference) Alba Iulia, Romania (2015).
Paper: Organ donation after circulatory death: situating the practice
Author: Cooper, J. - Breaking up bodies: body parts, body waste and the geographies of circulation. (Workshop) (2015). Invited speaker.
Paper: Organ donation after circulatory death: situating the practice
Author: Cooper, J. - BSA Death and Dying Study Group. (Conference) London (2014).
Paper: Contested decision-making: negotiating death and ethnicity in UK organ donation
Author: Cooper, J. - Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century Europe. (Conference) Alba Iulia, Romania (2014).
Paper: Donating organs in the UK: contested decision-making and the negotiation of death
Author: Cooper, J. - Morgan Center Encounters Conference. (Conference) University of Manchester (2013).
Paper: When consent-in-theory encounters consent-in-practice: re-situating the notion of relatedness in consent for deceased organ donation in the UK
Author: Cooper, J. - NHS Blood and Transplant, Organ Donation Management Team Meeting. Nottingham, UK (2013). Invited speaker.
Paper: The cultural anatomy of decision-making: re-thinking the ‘problem’ of organ donation and ethnicity
Author: Cooper, J. - NHS Blood and Transplant, Regional Collaborative meeting. Yorkshire, UK (2012). Invited speaker.
Paper: An ethnography of organ donation and ethnicity in the UK
Author: Cooper, J. - 8th Conference for Kidney Disease in Disadvantaged Populations. (Conference) Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (2011).
Paper: Organ donation amongst the UK’s Black and Minority Ethnic groups: Understanding ethnicity through healthcare practice
Author: Cooper, J.
Co-authors: Kierans, C. - 5th Annual Ethnography Symposium. (Conference) Queen Mary, University of London (2010).
Paper: Negotiating the field of organ donation and ethnicity: Gatekeeping, absent families, and the roles of health professionals
Author: Cooper, J. - Ethical, Legal and Psychosocial aspects of Organ Transplantation Congress (ELPAT). (Conference) Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2010).
Paper: Organ donation and ethnicity: Unpicking the formulation of a problem
Author: Cooper, J.
Co-authors: Kierans, C.