Joanna Kempner, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University. Kempner, an award-winning sociologist of science, medicine, technology, and inequality, investigates the political and social mechanisms that produce widespread bias and ignorance in medicine. Dr. Kempner publishes in various journals, including Science, Public Library of Medicine, and Social Science & Medicine. 

Dr. Kempner's research has been widely recognized for its excellence. Her first book, Not Tonight: Migraine and the Politics of Gender and Health (Chicago 2014), won top awards from both the American Sociological Association's (ASA) Medical Sociology Section, and the Society for Medical Anthropology. Kempner also earned the Rutgers' Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence, one of Rutgers' highest honors. In addition, her research has been extensively covered by major national media outlets, for example, NPR, The Washington Post, Associated Press, Science, the Guardian, and National Geographic. Kempner is using her time at the Center for Health and Wellbeing to complete a book tracking citizen scientists' role in the reemergence of psychedelic medicine.