Alex Benham is a Grand Union DPhil scholar at the University of Oxford. His work seeks to understand how the British state has responded to contagious diseases in the past, so as to better comprehend its responses to epidemics in the present. His current project traces ideas of contagion, race and disorder through three contexts; bubonic plague in Mumbai, tuberculosis in Birmingham and HIV in London. In addition to his work on disease, Alex is also a founding member of the transnational research collective, Out of the Woods, and a contributor to their new book on the ecological crisis; Hope Against Hope.

Twitter: @aut_omnia