Dr. Ellen Amster
Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine at McMaster University
2014 saw the appointment of a new Hannah Chair at McMaster, Ellen Amster, associate professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Department of History. Her research interests include French and Islamic medicine, global public health, and midwifery. She has been a simultaneous translator for an ORBIS ocular surgery mission in Morocco, a researcher at the Institut National d’Hygiène du Maroc, and has created a global health field study program in Morocco from her 2013 book, Medicine and the Saints: Science, Islam, and the Colonial Encounter in Morocco, 1877-1956 (Austin: University of Texas Press). Information on her global health field study program can be found here.
At McMaster, Ellen provides a regular lecture/rounds series in the history of medicine, supports all students in the Faculty of Health Sciences, but guides MD student electives and research projects, works with the MD curriculum committee, and teaches Professional Competencies to MD students. Ellen recently developed a history of medicine web portal, which encourages student research projects, engages the community, and brings together programs related to medical humanities at McMaster.
Previous Chairs: Dr. Chuck Roland (1977-1999); Dr. David Wright (1999-2011)