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Personal Summary

Kimber McKay, PhD is Professor and Chair of the School of Public and Community Health Sciences at the ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ. Dr. McKay specializes in global health, anthropological demography, community-based participatory research, and program planning and evaluation.

Dr. McKay earned her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and the Philosophy of Science from Mount Holyoke College and her Doctorate in Anthropology with a focus on Evolutionary Ecology from the University of California, Davis. She pursued further training as an Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Population Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, before joining the faculty at the ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ.

Her research explores the interconnections between marriage systems and fertility, as well as demographic and health trends in African, South Asian, and Central American societies. With a strong commitment to translating medical anthropology into real-world applications, Dr. McKay has worked extensively with the nonprofit sector, conducting studies on health and health-seeking behaviors in Honduras, Nepal, Kenya, and Uganda. She has co-designed numerous community-driven development initiatives aimed at improving public health and living conditions, including projects in sustainable energy technologies (solar photovoltaics, micro-hydroelectric systems), sanitation, nutrition, community-based health training, and health-related media interventions.

In 1999, Dr. McKay helped found Adara Development, an international non-governmental organization dedicated to collaborative, community-based partnerships in Nepal and Uganda. Over the past 25 years, Adara has been at the forefront of localization in global health, employing and training hundreds of Nepali and Ugandan professionals in maternal, newborn, and child health; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); renewable energy; and food security. With an annual operating budget of $6 million, Adara continues to work in close collaboration with the Ministries of Health and local partners in Nepal and Uganda, driving impactful, sustainable health initiatives. This experience plays a central role in Dr. McKay's teaching and classrom activities. 

Education

University of California, Berkeley

Post-doctoral Fellow in Demographic Anthropology 1998-2000

University of California, Davis

Ph.D. Anthropology 1998

M.A. Anthropology 1994

Mount Holyoke College

B.A. Anthropology, minor in Philosophy 1990

Courses Taught

• PUBH 580 Rural Health Issues in a Global Context (G - Public Health)
• PUBH 540 Social and Behavioral Science in Public Health (G - Public Health)

Field of Study

Global health, program planning and evaluation, social and behavioral sciences in public health practice.

Publications

Under review. McKay, K., Shahi, S., Kuiper, C., Szacilo, A., McDonald, N., Safe motherhood initiatives in rural Nepal. Critical Public Health.

N.D. McKay, K., Glover, A., Holman, C., Nelson, M., Kuiper, C., Szacilo, A. Mobile Obstetric Simulation Training in the Rural West. Will be submitted to Rural and Remote Health.

2024 Niyonshaba, B., Kabugo, D., Nakiganda, C., Otai, C., Seela, M., Nankabala, J., Nyonyintono, J., Nakakakande, 2024 J., Kigozi T., Vaughan, M., Nakamura, H., Paudel, M., Haddix-McKay, K., al-Haddad, B., Tann, C., Mubiri, P., Waiswa, P, Magnusson, B. Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of the Hospital to Home programme in rural Uganda: A mixed-methods intervention study, BMJ Global Health, forthcoming.

2023 Holman, C., Glover, A., McKay, K., and Gerard, C. Telehealth Adoption During COVID-19: Lessons Learned from Obstetric Providers in the Rocky Mountain West. Telemedicine Reports. Sep 2023.1-9.

2022 Russette, H., Brown, J., Belcourt, A., McKay, K., Graham, N., and Semmens, E., Identifying family-child activities among children with prenatal drug exposure in a Tribal Nation: Caregiver perspectives on barriers, facilitators, and positive outcomes. Plos One; 17(9), e0273989.

2021. Daniel Kabugo, Heidi Nakamura, Brooke Magnusson, Madeline Vaughan, Beatrice Niyonshaba, Cornety Nakiganda, Christine Otai, Kimber Haddix-McKay, Margaret Seela, Joyce Nankabala, Josephine Nakakande, Moses Ssekidde, Cally Tann, Benjamin J.S. al-Haddad, James Nyonyintono, Paul Mubiri, Peter Waiswa, Mohan Paudel, A quasi-experimental study to assess the feasibility, acceptability and early effectiveness of the Hospital to Home Programme for follow-up of high-risk newborns in a rural district of central Uganda, BMJ Open, 11:e043773. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043773.

2021 Glover A., Holman C., Katalenich B., McKay K., Smith N.K., and Woo M.. Maternal Health in Montana. Montana: Department of Public Health and Human Services; 2021. 34 p. Report No.: 1.

2019 Grocke, M.; McKay, K., and Foor, T., ‘Subjective well-being in two Himalayan communities, post road development’, HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies: Vol. 39(1): 26-31.

2018 Grocke, M. and McKay, K.H., Food security, nutritional outcomes, and a road. Mountain Research and Development, 38(4): 288-298.

2016 Grocke, M. and McKay, K.H., 'Like mother, like child? Understanding transitions in diet, health, and nutrition in Humla, Nepal'. Studies in Nepali History and Society. 21(2):13-22.

2016 Grocke, M. and McKay, KH., The impact of the first road in Humla District, Nepal on children’s dietary patterns and nutritional status with recommendations for increased protein intake. Studies in Nepali History and Society, 21(2): 305-331.

2016 McKay K., Polyandry. In: T.K. Shackelford, V.A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_119-1

2016 McKay, K., Planning Families in Nepal. Jan Brunson, New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University Press, 2016, 150 pp. Medical Anthropology Quarterly. doi:10.1111/maq.12344

2015 Sanders, C., McKay, K. Lama, A., and Dhakal, P., “’Pro-government’ is not ‘Pro-corruption’ in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquakes”. in Anthropology News’ online magazine, In Focus, June 10^th, 2015. 

2015 Khumalo, K., McKay, K., Freimund, W., Who is a “real woman”? Empowerment and the discourse of respectability in Namibia’s Zambezi region, Women’s Studies International Forum, 48: 47-56.

2014 Sanders, C. and McKay, K., Where have all the young men gone? Social fragmentation during rapid neoliberal development in Nepal’s Himalayas. Human Organization 73(1): 25-37.

2013 McKay, K., Sanders, C., The dual collective action problem facing a latrine program in Nepal, Proceedings of the 3^rd World Sustainability Forum, .

2013 Sanders, C. and McKay, K., "I don't know where my sons are": Social trade-offs during rapid development in Nepal. In Proceedings of the 3rd World Sustainability Forum, .

2013 Sanders, C. and McKay, K., The Search for “Strong Medicine”: Pathways to healthcare development in remote Nepal using GIS. Technology & Innovation 15: 109-124.

2012 Sanders, C. and McKay K.H., Love is cheap: Democratic rise of love marriage among Hindu Maoists in Nepal. Anthropology News, .

2010 McKay, K.H., Socio-cultural dimensions of cluster vs. single home photovoltaic solar energy systems in rural Nepal, Sustainability, 2010(2): 494-504.

2009 Zahnd, A. and McKay, K.H., Benefits from a renewable energy village electrification system, Renewable Energy, 34:362-368.

2008 Zahnd, A. and McKay, K.H., A mountain to climb? How pico-hydro helps rural development in the Himalayas, Renewable Energy World, 11(2): 118-123.

2007 McKay, K., Zahnd, A., Sanders, C. and Nepali, G., Responses to innovation in an insecure environment in rural Nepal, Mountain Research and Development, 27(4): 302–307.

2007 Zahnd, A. and McKay, K.H., Eclairage sur mesure au Népal, Traces 24(12): 11-13.

2007 Pickering A. and Haddix McKay, K., Old and new barriers to family planning in Humla, Nepal: How the urban/rural divide has widened, Contributions to Nepalese Studies, 34(1): 229-245.

2007 Zahnd, A. and McKay, K.H., Quatre piliers pour un développement holistique, Traces 24(12): 7-9.

2006 Fissel, A. and Haddix McKay, K., Action!  Why people engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS should take note of traditional healer organizations in Uganda, Practicing Anthropology, 28(4): 22-25.

2004 Tanner, R., Brown, P., Freimund, W. and Haddix McKay, K., Transfrontier conservation areas of Southern Africa and international law in the context of community involvement.  Journal of South African Environmental Law and Policy, 11: 167-182.

2003 Haddix McKay, K., Challenges to health care access in Maoist Nepal, Himalaya, XXII(2): 43-46.

2002 Haddix McKay, K., Health needs in two ethnic communities of Northwestern Nepal, Contributions to Nepalese Studies, 29(2): 241-273.

2001 Haddix, K., Leaving your wife and your brothers: When polyandrous marriages fall apart, Evolution and Human Behavior, 22(1):47-61.

1999 Haddix, K.A., "Excess Women": Non-marriage and reproduction in two ethnic Tibetan communities of Humla, Nepal," HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 19(1): Article 9.

Affiliations

Specialized Skills

Evaluation, program planning, demography, demographic anthropology, monitoring and evaluation, applied medical anthropology, international development, global public health, maternal, newborn, child health.

Professional Experience

2022 - Present: Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

2020 - Present: Professor, School of Public and Community Health Sciences, ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ

2000 - 2020: Professor, Department of Anthropology, ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ

1998 - Present: Consultant to Adara Development. Conducting baseline and longitudinal studies of rural health care conditions in Humla District, Nepal and Nakaseke District, Uganda; currently Senior Advisor, Innovation and Best Practice for Adara Development

2001-2002 Country Manager, Nepal—The ISIS Foundation. Project director and manager and lead researcher on various health-related development projects in both Nepal and Uganda (on leave from ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ)

1998-2000 Andrew Mellon post-doctoral fellow in demographic anthropology, University of California at Berkeley, Program in Population Research, under the supervision of Gene Hammel

International Experience

Current Research Sites:

• Nepal
• Uganda

Other Research Sites:

• Kenya
• Honduras

Languages:

• Spanish
• Nepali