Laetitia Atlani-Duault

Prof. Laetitia Atlani-Duault's career over the past 25 years has been a unique blend of work in both academia in France and the US, and the United Nations system. 

Pr. Laëtitia Atlani-Duault is a social anthropologist, Vice-President of Université Paris Cité, President of the Covid19 Ad Memoriam Institute, which she founded at Université Paris Cité, full tenured Research Professor at the Université Paris Cité-IRD, Vice-President of the Haut conseil de la santé publique (French government’s High Council for Public Health), and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York. She is regularly invited as a visiting professor in the USA, Canada and Italy. She was previously tenured Associate Professor at Université Paris X Nanterre (2018-2011) and tenured Assistant Professor at Université Lyon II (2003-2007). 

As an academic, her work focuses on the making and governance of crises, and their impacts. She has published numerous articles in major international journals (Lancet, Lancet Public Health, Ethnologie française, Transculturel Psychiatry, Social sciences and medicine, Public understanding of science, Medical anthropology, etc.) and over a dozen books and special issues in French, English, Italian and Romanian, such as: Humanitarian Aid in Former Soviet Union: An Anthropological Perspective (Routledge 2007); Les ONG à l’heure de la ‘bonne gouvernance’ (Armand Colin – Autrepart, 2005); Au bonheur des autres. Anthropologie de l’aide humanitaire [For their Own Good. Anthropology of Humanitarian Aid] (Armand Colin 2009 ; Anthropologie de l’aide humanitaire et du développement [Anthropology of Humanitarian and Development Aid] with L. Vidal (Armand Colin 2011) ; Ethnographie de l’aide  [Ethnographies of Aid] (PUF-Ethnologie française 2011) ; Chercheurs à la barre [Social Sciences Seized by Justice], with S. Dufoix (Socio, Editions de la MSH 2014) ; La santé globale, nouveau laboratoire de l’aide internationale ? [Global Health, A New Laboratory for International Aid?], with L. Vidal (Armand Colin-Tiers Monde, 2013) ; Violences extrêmes : Enquêter, Secourir, Juger [Extreme Violence. Investigate, Save, Judge], with JH Bradol, M. Lepape et C. Vidal (Editions de la MSH, 2021) ; Lieux de mémoire sonore. Des sons pour survivre, des sons pour tuer [Sonic Memories. Sounds of survival, Weaponization of Sounds], with L. Velasco (Editions de la MSH, 2021) ; Les spiritualités en temps de pandémie pandémie [Spirituality and Religions in Times of Pandemics], (Albin Michel 2022); Les personnes âgées au risque de la pandémie [The Ederly and the Covid19 pandemic], with PH Duée et JF. Delfraissy (La Documentation française 2022) ; Les violences sexuelles dans l’Eglise catholique : apprendre des victimes pandémie [Systemic Sexual Abuse in the French Catholic Church], with C. Lazerges et J. Molinario (Dalloz, 2023) ; and Religions et fin de vie [Religions, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide] (Fayard, 2023). 

As a global expert, she was Program Manager at the United Nations Development Programme (1994-1995), Program Officer at UNAIDS (1996-1997), UNDP Chief Technical Advisor (1997-2003). Most recently, she was Senior Advisor for Humanitarian Affairs at United Nations Headquarters in New York (2012-2015), a member of the Independent Inquiry Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church in France (2019-2021) and has been serving as member of the COVID19 Scientific Council reporting directly to the French President and government (2020-2022). 

Pr. Atlani-Duault is a past recipient of the prestigious France's National Centre for Scientific Research's Excellence in Research Award in Social Anthropology ('médaille de bronze du CNRS') and was elevated to the titles of Chevalier in the Order of the palmes académiques (2018) and Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur (2022).