Ignacia Arteaga graduated from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile with a BA (Hons) in Sociology. She completed an MSc in Medical Anthropology (2014) and a PhD in Anthropology (2018) at University College London. Since joining the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge in 2018, she has taught a range of lectures and seminars and co-organised multidisciplinary academic events.

Ignacia led research grants exploring understandings of risk and care among disadvantaged communities in Cambridgeshire, and defining recommendations to foster inclusion and trustworthiness in early cancer detection research. Ignacia’s post-doctoral research The Anthropology of Medicine & Care (2019–22), funded by the Philomathia Foundation, constituted one of the first indepth anthropological studies of the scientific development and social effects of early cancer detection technologies. She explored the interfaces between scientists’ laboratory practices, the clinical worlds created through the translation of detection technologies, and the experiences of research participants enrolled in associated clinical trials to test those technologies.

Ignacia has also been appointed Research Fellow at Robinson College and remains an affiliated researcher at the Department of Social Anthropology. Academic Position I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Health Policy Studies (IHPS) at UCSF, focusing on health inequities, patient engagement, and the early detection of diseases, particularly cancer and dementia. In my current position, I am transitioning into dementia research to help develop diagnostic tools that are both inclusive and meaningful for diverse populations.