What was the focus of your work?
I held a Mildred Blaxter Fellowship at the Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society, University of Edinburgh, 2021-3. During that time I published a monograph, The Eroticising of HIV: Viral Times (Palgrave), which was shortlisted to the BSA Medsoc Book Prize, an edited book on HIV and COVID-19, edited a special issue of Culture, Health and Sexuality. My fellowship focused on extending my PhD work on HIV and sexual fantasy into the field of the sociology of health and illness, working with clinicians, activists and policy makers.
What did the Mildred Blaxter fellowship offer you that you would not otherwise have been able to do?
The MBF has been career-making and defining for me: it has allowed me time to find a position I find comfortable at the intersection of sociology of health, sexual health, and outbreak/pandemic response; develop, test out, and work on ideas; and build strong connections nationally and internationally, both with other academics and communities. It has given me a unique chance to build my profile as researcher and become a voice in debates about HIV, COVID and mpox. Finally, the MBF advanced me to a position where I could work towards developing an application for sizable funding, through mobilizing the networks and expertise I developed.
What are you doing now?
Thanks to the Mildred Blaxter scheme, I have secured a prestigious, five-year, tenure-track Chancellor’s Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, and funding from the ESRC New Investigator Award for a project exploring the role of gay men’s memories of HIV during COVID-19. I’m developing several grant applications, including to the Medical Research Council exploring longer-term implications of mpox and the role of sex-on-premises venues and to the NIHR. I was elected a member of the BSA’s Medical Sociology Committee, and the Editorial Board of Psychology and Sexuality.
What advice would you give to someone thinking of applying for a Mildred Blaxter fellowship?
Find a good mentor. They do not need to be the absolute expert on your field: the most important thing is that you trust them to guide you. This fellowship has the potential to establish you as an independent researcher. This process comes with its own challenges: navigating university politics, developing a long-term plan and narrative for your work, learning how to manage your time and priorities, etc. Having a mentor who can support you with this is essential. I was incredibly lucky to have a fantastic mentor, Prof Martyn Pickersgill, and he has helped me enormously.
After the award…
You can find out more about Jaime Garcia-Iglesias’s work on his website
Also on X/Twitter: @JGarciaIglesias