Dr Catherine Coveney

PhD in Science and Technology Studies

  • School Research Ethics Lead
  • Reader in Sociology
Publications
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Katie is a medical sociologist with expertise in social and ethical aspects of medicine and health care. She has research interests in the sociology of sleep, medical technology, and disability.

Katie joined º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ as a Lecturer in Sociology in 2018, being promoted to Reader in Sociology in 2024. She was co-convener of the British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Group (2019 – 2021). Before this she worked as a research fellow in the Centre for Reproduction Research at De Montfort University (2017-8), the Centre for Global Health Policy at the University of Sussex (2014-7), the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick (2010-2014) and the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy at the University of Nottingham (2009 -2010).

Katie's research interests fall at the intersection between medical sociology, Science and Technology Studies (STS) and bioethics, focusing on the sociological and ethical aspects of health and biomedicine. Her research is known for its strong empirical focus and its theoretical contributions to key debates in medical sociology on medicalisation, pharmaceuticalisation, the sociology of sleep, chronic illness and human enhancement. She has expertise in qualitative research with health service providers and patients/ users and experience of conducting research in partnership with third sector organisations. Her current research focuses on ageing, disability and care.

Current research projects:

  • Noonan Syndrome Association (2022- 2024) Living with Noonan Syndrome. Principal Investigator. The research focuses on parent-carers experiences of caring for a child with this rare genetic condition.
  • Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness (2024- 2025) Rhythms of ageing, disability and care. Principal Investigator. With Carrie Ryan (UCL), Shadreck Mwale (University of West London) and Wendy Martin, (Brunel University).
  • National Institute of Health Research (2025-2027) Understanding the support needs of African and African-Caribbean people living with dementia, their care partners and families and the impacts of delayed support: identifying inclusive strategies to facilitate timely and culturally appropriate social care support. Co- Investigator. (PI Dr Shadreck Mwale, University of West London).

Her previous research has focused on a range of different health/care technologies, looking at experiences and practices of egg donation in Europe, the moral meanings of medicines in everyday life, the sociology of human enhancement, the pharmaceuticalisation of sleep, the domestication of digital self-tracking technologies in health practices, the use of telephone crisis helplines in the delivery of emotional support, the ethics of using novel experimental biological therapies in the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries in the world of elite sport, the uses of alternative medicine and the commodification and commercialization of biological material in the emerging bioeconomy.

  • SSC022 Health, the Body and Culture
  • SSC033 Sociological Futures
  • SSC024 Gender, Sex and Society
  • SSB010 Social Theories
  • Jiahui (Alex) Li. (2023 – 2026). Digital health literacies in food-tracking health consumption in China. With A. Leguina.
  • Haojie Fang (2022 – 25) From Traditional to digital matchmaking in China: Finding partners across platforms between individualism and familism. Chinese Scholarship Council PhD studentship. With P.Saukko.
  • Taylor, Chantelle (2020 - 2025) “Sharing the Narrative: Exploring how women’s past experiences of mental health problems following childbirth can help those currently suffering with perinatal mental health issues. (ESRC 1 +3 funded). With L. Nyhagen.
  • David Evans (2019 – 2023) A qualitative study exploring managerial and donor perspectives of charitable impact, efficacy, and the effective altruism movement. With T. Thurnell-Read and M. Pino