Manvinder K. Gill

Manvinder Kaur Gill is a PhD student in the School of Social Work and Department of Anthropology. She has a master’s in religious studies from McMaster University and a master’s in social work from the University of Toronto. She has held research fellowships at Delhi University and the University of Victoria, Canada.

Before joining U-M, Gill worked in community mental health and co-founded Asra: The Punjabi Alcohol Resource providing knowledge translation and peer support for Punjabi-speaking communities impacted by substance use. She most recently worked in Punjab, India as a research associate for MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab on a project centered on improving opioid addiction prevention protocols in Punjabi high schools in collaboration with the Department of School Education.

Her research focuses on substance use in Punjabi communities in India. She explores how “de-addiction” centers, counselors and therapies act as intermediaries for the transmission and perpetuation of state narratives in creating an ideal citizen.