Judith C. Barker, PhD

University of California, San Francisco
Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine; Center to Address Disparities in Children's Oral Health (CAN DO)
3333 California Street, Suite 485
San Francisco, CA
USA 94143-0850

Biographical Sketch: Judith C. Barker, Ph.D., a socio-cultural anthropologist, is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine as well as Associate Director of the Center to Address Disparities in Children’s Oral Health at the University of California San Francisco. She has a MSc in Medical Sociology from the University of London and a PhD degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of California San Francisco & Berkeley. Dr. Barker has used a wide range of qualitative approaches as well as mixed methods to examine the experience and meaning of illness and its day-to-day management by those who are sick, frail or dependent in some way, including children, the disabled, and the elderly. Understanding how lay people conceptualize risks to health and act (or not act) to prevent risks from materializing is a theme in much of her work which has largely been among various ethnic minority populations (e.g., African American, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander). Her research has examined: gender, age, and ethnic differences in health beliefs; access to health care; substance use, homelessness, and HIV/AIDS; family; and oral health. Dr. Barker focuses on investigating health disparities and vulnerable populations using community-based settings to examine access to and delivery of formal and informal health care services and caregiving.

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