Francesca DeRosa-Grover

Position
Program in History of Science
Bio/Description

I study the history of medicine, focusing on the United Kingdom in the 20th century. I earned a BA in History and German from NYU in 2016. I then moved to the History and Philosophy of Science department at the University of Cambridge for an MPhil.

For my masters dissertation, I examined the medical treatment of the young survivors of the drug thalidomide in the 1960s and 1970s. I focused on the development, use and ultimate failure of prosthetics as treatment. I continue this research for my doctoral dissertation, but have expanded my purview to also consider the development and spread of other technical aids among communities of disabled people in the mid-20th century UK. I am also interested in the intersection between medicine and sexual orientation, the history of women’s health, and medical research ethics