Research supervision

Current PhD Student: Alice Bayingana| Co-supervisor

I am open to discussing research proposals for postgraduate study on a variety of subjects related to my research expertise.

Research Interests and Expertise

Humiliation, Indignation and Violence in Health

Migration Health

Critical Philosophical Ethnography and Reflexive Methodologies

Emotions in Health and Medicine

Supriya currently teaches Public Health Ethics, Ethics in Surgical Skills, and Evidence and Ethics

Students have said about Supriya's teaching in the Unit of Student Survey:

• "Supriya was a great coordinator with respect to learning ethics. she was proactive, helpful and eager to share her knowledge with us. I was able to properly grasp the core learning of the course from her and was really happy with the way she involved everyone during the tutorials. The sessions were interactive and case studies helped me understand them well."
• "Dr Subramani has made every effort to create content which is applicable to current public health issues. Not only has she provided us with tools to address relevant ethical dimensions of public health problems she has delivered content in an engaging and creative manner. Introducing podcasts and films into our learning has been engaging and refreshing, along with the dialogue and discussion that is engaging and lively."
• "Supriya's teaching has been a breath of fresh air in this masters, she not only challenges us intellectually she truly is an expert in her field, sharing unlimited knowledge and resources. I have felt this practical application of ethics has truly supported me for the real professional world, not only has she taught us challenging concepts and philosophical theories like most teachers would, she has gone above and beyond that - I have not felt this supported by a teacher in my masters. Subsequently I have loved coming to class, engaging with her, engaging in class activities."
• "Dr Subramani has enlightened us with her diverse and practical experience as a bioethicist in international health campaigns and research. A source of inspiration for me personally. Importantly Dr Subramani has modelled a reflexive practice in her teaching by listening to our own ethical and practical considerations. It has felt like a unique and collaborative learning opportunity as she has encouraged an open dialogue where many opinions and perspectives have been shared and received with curiosity and respect."

Current research projects:

1.Ethics of Belonging

In this research project by employing a phenomenological-sociological approach she discusses how racialised migrant embodied experiences can capture the experiences of being an 'other', as well as how moral emotions such as shame and humiliation can influence one's moral self and its significance to everyday moral discourse.

2. Humiliation and Violence in Health

Violence against healthcare workers (HCWs) is frequently discussed as a crisis of public trust or resource scarcity. However, such explanations overlook the deeper structural and conceptual dimensions of this violence, particularly its roots in humiliation as a systemic affective and epistemic condition. In this project, I explore how humiliation functions as both a cause and consequence of healthcare violence: patients, subjected to neglect, dismissal, and epistemic injustice, direct their frustration toward the most accessible figures in the system.

3. On Chronic Pain, Women and Well-being

This research explores women's sense of self and dignity, and its significance to their health and well-being in the context of chronic illness in villages in South India. I will be conducting an ethnographic study, closely working with self-help women's groups in the communities where I grew up, to explore how women make sense of their pain, resist, and navigate within their families, relationships, and the broader community social networks to which they belong.

• Early Career Bioethics Network (Founder and current co-ordinator)
• South Asian Bioethics Network (Founder)
• Health, Ethics and Law Institute for Training, Research and Advocacy
• Australasian Association of Bioethics and Law, Co-Lead of Empirical Ethics Stream

Feb-March 2023: Writing Residency Fellowship at the Brocher Foundation, Geneva

Sep 2020 - March 2021/Aug- Dec 2022: Stehr-Boldt Fellowship Award, University of Zurich

2019 - 2020: Swiss Government Excellence Post-Doctoral Scholarship, Switzerland

July 2019: Asian Bioethics Review Young Scholar Award, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Springer Nature

2019: Institute Research Award for Best Doctoral Thesis, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai

2015 - 2018: Senior Research Fellowship, University Grants Commission (UGC),India

Sept - Nov 2016: Junior Research Fellowship, Centre for Advanced Study inBioethics, University of Munster, Germany (Project funded by German Research Foundation, DAAD project)

May - Jun 2015 Junior Research Fellowship, Centre for Advanced Study in Bioethics, University of Munster, Germany (Project funded by German Research Foundation, DAAD project)

2013 - 2015 Junior Research Fellowship, University Grants Commission (UGC), India

2012 First Rank Holder, M.A., Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur, India

2010 - 2012 Merit Scholarship awarded by Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur, India