Associate ProfessorMaurizio Meloni

Associate Professor - Sociology

Faculty of Arts and Education/School of Humanities and Social Sciences/Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation

  • Associate Professor - Sociology
    Faculty of Arts and Education/School of Humanities and Social Sciences/Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation
  • +61 3 522 78811 (Work)
  • Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus, 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Knowledge Areas
Social Theory

History and Philosophy of Biology and Medicine
Sociology of Epigenetics
Intellectual History
Social Studies of Science

Finalized Projects (find relevant publications at Maurizio's google scholar page: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=cGdqJbEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao)
[Impressionable Bodies: Epigenetic Models of Plasticity in the Global South (2019-2023)
(ARC Future Fellowship)](https://www.deakin.edu.au/research/research-
news/articles/epigenetics-research-explores-policy-risks)
This project aims to investigate how epigenetics, the science of how
environmental factors switch genes on or off, is reshaping notions of the
body, heredity and biological plasticity in the global South., Using case
studies in Australia, India and South Africa this project comparatively
analyses how epigenetics is mobilised in public debates on responsibility,
risk and the amelioration of disadvantage. This project expects to ensure the
policy translation of epigenetics maximises social benefits and reduces risks
of social harm, particularly to vulnerable minority groups.

Epigenetics and Indigenous Australia (ARC Discovery Project, Emma Kowal Lead
Investigator, Megan Warin Adelaide Investigator), 2019-2021
This project aims to investigate how epigenetics is being received by
Indigenous Australians, and to identify the potential risks and opportunities
that narratives of biosocial damage entail. Epigenetics is a rapidly evolving
science concerned with how life experiences, such as trauma or stress, can
modify DNA and be passed on to negatively affect children's (and possibly
grandchildren's) health and development. This project will offer an
understanding of the relationships between Indigenous health and epigenetics
that will help Indigenous researchers, policymakers, and government bodies
make well-informed decisions about the application and direction of this new
science. The research will make a significant contribution to understanding
how the interplay of biology, race, and society unfold at the intersection of
different knowledge systems and at the forefront of technological progress.

GRANTS

  • GRANT
    The politics of epigenetic hope and hype in Indigenous Australia
    1 Jan 2019 - 31 Dec 2021
    People funded by this grant:
    ARC - Discovery Projects - DP190102071 - $351,702.72
  • FELLOWSHIP
    Impressionable Bodies: Epigenetic Models of Plasticity in the Global South - External - Dr Maurizio Meloni
    1 Sep 2018 - 31 Dec 2022
    People funded by this grant:
    • Maurizio Meloni
    ARC Fellowships - Future Fellowships - FT180100240 - $926,610.64
  • GRANT
    Gen(e)quality
    Deakin University Research Network (DURN)1 Jan 2018
    People funded by this grant:
    $110,000