Luke Stalley is a PhD student in the project the "(Im)possibilities of letting life end. An ethnography of medical specialist practices" under the superivison of Dr. Anna Mann, since 2022.

He studied Medicine for two years before completing his degrees in Human Sciences at the University of Oxford and then Medical Anthropology & Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. Luke has worked across health and social care roles and settings and as a qualitative researcher on projects for public and private-sector clients.

In his doctoral research, Luke is exploring the care practices of geriatricians working in the UK's National Health Service. Through shadowing, observation and interviews, his research appreciates the tensions and challenges of providing care amidst clinical uncertainty to hospitalised older adults who may - or may not be - approaching the end of their life. By paying attention to the technoscientific and sociomaterial practicalities of providing care - from diagnostic tests, risk scores and care plans to the hopes and fears of patients' and their families - Luke's thesis will articulate how shifts to 'non-life prolonging' forms of care become possible in the specificities of geriatric medical practice.

Situated at the intersection of Medical Sociology, Medical Anthropology and Science & Technology Studies (STS), Luke's doctoral research extends his ongoing interest in both the nature and normative aspects of scientific research and the mundane and messy practicalities of providing care. Through his research, Luke hopes to contribute to current scholarship in STS concerning care, valuing, maintenance and bodies in practice, and to find both academic and creative avenues to translate these findings to wider audiences.