Lisette Varón-Carvajal is a PhD Candidate in history at Rutgers, studying the history of popular medicine in Colombia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Her dissertation project titled “Caring Women: Midwives and Female Healers in New Granada, 1700-1850”, investigates midwives' and female healers' lives and medical practices in New Granada, present-day Colombia, between 1700 and 1850. What sets Lisette’s project apart from traditional historical narratives is that she interviews 20 contemporary medical practitioners (midwives, doulas, and doctors) to examine the resurgence of midwifery and traditional healing practices in Colombia's present medical landscape. This material permits her to reflect on memory-making, the creation of historical narratives related to care, and global histories of medicine and care. Lisette's research has received the support of the National Science Foundation and the Social Science Research Council.

Lisette received her BA from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, and she has worked with feminist and governmental organizations on topics of sexual and domestic violence in Colombia.  Currently, Lisette is host of the New Books Network, specifically of the "Latin American Studies," and the "Science, Technology and Society Studies” channels.