Alison Heller is a medical anthropologist who studies reproductive health and humanitarianism in West Africa. She received her Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis and is currently a traveling faculty member for the International Honors Program (IHP)/Comparative Program run by World Learning. Before starting as an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, she will complete a fellowship at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Heller’s research has been funded by the Fulbright-Hays Program, the National Science Foundation, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation.