Dr Mary Ellen Upton

Contact information:
Development Policy and Practice
Faculty of Maths, Computing and Technology
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

Telephone: +44 (0)1761434937

Email: mary.upton@open.ac.uk


Position: Research Associate


Biography:

Mary holds a BSc (Hons) in Sociology with Research training from the University of Bath (1985), an MPhil in Politics from the University of Bristol (1995), a Masters in Research in International Development from the University of Bath (2004) and a PhD in Development Policy and Practice from the Open University (2011).  Her MPhil research on South African political history focused on the role of writing and theatre in civil society resistance against Apartheid.  Following a period of teaching as an Associate Lecturer for the Open University, her MSc research focused on perceptions of, and participation in, HIV and AIDS related development.  Her PhD entitled: ‘The Politics of Health: Community Engagement in South African HIV Vaccine Clinical Trial Sites,’ identifies the complex interrelationships of power within and between local, national and global health governance arenas; to reveal the social, economic and political constraints on poor peoples’ capabilities to gain access to health and social development.  Her focus on the daily lives of people engaged in local AIDS vaccine initiatives in Cape Town and Soweto illustrates the ways that valued health resources are used in efforts to negotiate those constraints and achieve those goals. 

Based in Development Policy and Practice at the Open University, she is currently involved in research as part of the development of a larger project on Transnational HIV and AIDS Advocacy Networks.  This research draws on some of the threads from her PhD into the inclusion of vulnerable and marginalised people in forming effective policy responses.  The Open University Centre for Innovation, Knowledge and Development (IKD) is providing this opportunity to develop her interests in: the role of civil society in global health governance; social justice; participatory development; and citizenship.  


Publications and conference presentations

• Huzair, F., Borda-Rodriguez, A., Upton, M.E. (2011) Twenty-First Century Vaccinomics Innovation Systems: Capacity Building in the Global South and the Role of Product Development Partnerships (PDPs),’ OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology.  Volume 15 (9), pp.1-5.
  
  
• Upton, M. (2008) ‘Global Governance and the Role of Public-Private-Partnerships in HIV Vaccine Development in Southern Africa’, 49th Annual International Studies Association Convention, San Francisco, CA.
  
  
• Upton, M. (2007) The Summertown HIV Prevention Project,Case Study for the Open University Masters Course TU870: Capacities for Managing Development.