- Professor of History, University of Denver
I am a professor of history at the University of Denver and the author of Nutritional Imperialism: How Science Turned Difference into Sickness in China (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2026) and Forgotten Disease: Illnesses Transformed in Chinese Medicine (Stanford University Press, 2017).
My teaching and research interests lie at the intersection between Chinese history and the history of science and medicine. Broadly, I am curious about how people living in very different times and cultures from my own made sense of the natural world, including their own bodies. More narrowly, in my research I examine changing understandings of disease in Chinese society, and relationships between diet and health as Chinese doctors and patients have understood them. I enjoy teaching a wide range of classes, including Imperial China and Modern China, Comparative History of Medicine, Disease in World History, Chinese Science, and Food in East Asian History.
I am also a senior editor for the journal Asian Medicine.
Experience
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2026–presentProfessor of History, University of Denver
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2014–2026Associate Professor of History, University of Denver
Education
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2008University of Pennsylvania, Ph.D.
Publications
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2026Nutritional Imperialism: How Science Turned Difference into Sickness in China, Johns Hopkins University Press
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2017Forgotten Disease: Illnesses Transformed in Chinese History, Stanford University Press
Grants and Contracts
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2024Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant
- Role:
- P.I.
- Funding Source:
- Fulbright Commission
Contact Hilary for
- General
- Media request
- Speaking request
- Consulting / Advising
- Research collaboration
- Research supervision
- Location: Denver, Colorado, U.S.
- Website
- Article Feed
- ORCID
- Joined
