Andrew Black

Andrew Black is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in History at Leeds Trinity University. He is currently working on the Wellcome Trust funded project ‘Thinking forward through the past: Linking science, social science and the humanities to inform the sustainable reduction of endemic disease in British livestock farming’.

Before joining Leeds Trinity, Andrew studied at the University of Manchester, where he gained a BSc in Pharmacology, an MSc in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, and a PhD, also in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. His PhD charted the post-WWII history of measles vaccination and the British government, examining the relationship between science, society and the state in the management of medical risk.

Andrew has also held several roles in medical research and public health. His most recent role was working in local government, contributing towards the development of services and policies relating to the social, economic and environmental determinants of health.

As part of the Wellcome Trust funded project, Andrew is contributing towards the production of a post-WWII social history of endemic livestock disease in Britain. His research focusses on the ways in which knowledge-practices regarding endemic livestock disease have been produced and disseminated in post-WWII Britain, with a particular focus on the role played by the veterinary medicine industry.

As well as his work on this project, Andrew is also interested in the twentieth century histories of medical experimentation, infectious disease, public health and the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, Andrew is interested in the ways in which society works to understand, respond to and communicate medical risk.