Doctoral Candidate in project 7 - Hayley Freedman

I am a PhD fellow in the HEALENAE Doctoral Network at Aarhus University's Department of Anthropology. I am a global health practitioner and researcher, and I have spent more than fifteen years working across Sub-Saharan Africa, including in Mozambique, Liberia, Uganda, and Kenya. Before joining Aarhus University, I worked with the American Cancer Society's Global Cancer Support team, supporting health system strengthening, cancer literacy, patient navigation, and oncology workforce development initiatives in East Africa. Throughout my career, I have been motivated by questions of health equity, particularly how social, environmental, and institutional conditions shape people's opportunities to access care and live well.

My PhD project explores gynecological cancer care pathways in East Africa, with ethnographic fieldwork centered in Uganda and a comparative analysis of policy environments in Uganda and Kenya. Jointly hosted by Aarhus University and Makerere University, the project examines how women, families, healthcare providers, and community support networks navigate cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. By following care journeys across clinics, communities, and homes, I hope to better understand how care continuity is maintained, interrupted, or transformed over time. More broadly, I hope the research will contribute to ongoing efforts to strengthen equitable cancer care systems while offering new insights into how people experience and navigate serious illness in their everyday lives.