Caitlin Fox

Caitlin is a doctorate student at the University of Adelaide who receives a scholarship for academic merit. She graduated with a Bachelor of Media majoring in Anthropology at the University of Adelaide in 2019. In 2020, she was accepted into the University of Adelaide's Honours program for high achieving Anthropology students and received the Mountbatten scholarship for academic achievement. Caitlin received first-class Honours for her thesis in medical anthropology, connecting the history of covert nuclear testing conducted by the United States military in the Marshall Islands to high mortality rates from COVID-19 among Marshallese migrants living in Northwest Arkansas in the United States.

Caitlin's PhD project uses the ethnographic method to explore the experiences of young kidney transplant recipients as they become adults and take over responsibility for managing their health. This is important because young adult and adolescent kidney transplant recipients tend to have worse outcomes than any other age group, something that is often attributed to the difficulties associated with adhering to an intense treatment regime while establishing one's self as an adult. This topic is of particular interest to Caitlin as she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in her teenage years and has experienced the difficulties associated with managing a complex health condition while navigating the journey to adulthood. She hopes to provide valuable insight into the experiences of young transplant recipients, with the aim of improving programs of support that assist them through this vulnerable time, ultimately improving outcomes.