Larry Au

Assistant Professor

Additional Departments/Affiliated Programs

Sociology

Areas of Expertise/Research

  • China
  • Globalization
  • Long Covid
  • Medical Sociology
  • Precision Medicine
  • Science, Technology, and Society

Building

North Academic Center

Office

6/135

Phone

212-650-5856

Website

Larry Au

Profile

Larry Au is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at T九色视频, CUNY. His research examines the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in the production of biomedical knowledge, and asks how clinicians and scientists can better serve their patients and the public. Part of this work examines the globalization of precision medicine鈥攐r the use of genomics and other forms of big data to improve diagnosis and treatment鈥攁s a policy idea and scientific project, focusing primarily on its rise in China. Another part of this research looks at the politics of expertise around Long Covid, in particular, the experience of patients as they navigate uncertainties around their condition. He is also currently working on his book project Dreams of Global Science: The Transnational Politics of Chinese Biomedical Innovation (under contract with Columbia University Press), which examines how scientific norms and priorities are shaped by a researcher's location within scientific networks and how geopolitics is influencing science in China.

His work has been published in journals such as Sociological ForumSocial Science & Medicine, SSM-Qualitative Research in HealthScience Technology & Human Values, Public Understanding of Science, and other venues. This research has been supported by the Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies, the Social Science Research Council, the National Science Foundation through the Trans-Atlantic Platform for Social Sciences and Humanities, the National Institutes of Health鈥檚 program on Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD), and other funders, and has received awards such as from the American Sociological Association.

He is serving as an elected council member (2023-2025) of the American Sociological Association's , a co-organizer (2023-2028) of the newly formed at the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, and a member of the editorial board of Qualitative Sociology and The Sociological Quarterly. He also co-organizes a workshop for CUNY and NYC-area researchers.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Sociology, Columbia University, 2022
  • M.Sc. in Global Governance and Diplomacy, University of Oxford, 2015
  • M.A. in History and B.Sc. in Social Analysis and Research (with Honors and magna cum laude), Brown University, 2014

Courses Taught at CCNY

  • Methods and Techniques of Sociological Research (SOC 23200) [Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2025, Fall 2025]
  • Illness Narratives and Patient Experiences (SOC 31166) [Spring 2024]
  • Learning to Care: How Doctors and Health Professionals Deliver Medical Care (SOC 31975) [Fall 2022, Fall 2025]
  • Data Justice and Algorithmic Accountability (SOC 31182) [Spring 2023, Fall 2024]
  • Science, Technology, and Society (SOC 31920) [Fall 2023]
  • Health Equity: Biological and Social Determinants of Health (SOC 31184/BIO 31141, co-taught with Bao Vuong, Biology) [Spring 2025]

Publications

Book

Dreams of Global Science: The Transnational Politics of Chinese Biomedical Innovation (Under Contract with Columbia University Press)

 

Articles

  • Gil Eyal, Larry Au, and Cristian Capotescu. 2024. 鈥淭rust is a Verb!: A Critical Reconstruction of the Sociological Theory of Trust鈥. Sociologica 18(2): 169-191.
    • Commentary: Elena Esposito. 2024. 鈥淭he Dilemma of Trust in the Risk Society: Commentary on Gil Eyal, Larry Au and Cristian Capotescu鈥檚 鈥淭rust is a Verb!鈥濃. Sociologica 18(2): 193-198.
    • Commentary: Guido Mollering. 2024. 鈥淧ractice(s) of Trusting. Commentary on Gil Eyal, Larry Au and Cristian Capotescu鈥檚 鈥淭rust is a Verb!鈥濃. Sociologica 18(2): 199-208.
    • Response: Gil Eyal, Larry Au, and Cristian Capotescu. 2024. 鈥淭he Indeterminacy of Trust. A Response to M枚llering and Esposito鈥檚 Commentaries鈥. Sociologica 18(2): 209-214.
  • Gil Eyal, Larry Au, Cristian Capotescu, Amanda Curi, Renan Gon莽alves Leonel da Silva, Yijie (Coco) Fang, Jingyu Lang, Shuhan Li, Chang Liu, Jessica Liu, and Jian Su. 2024. 鈥溌縌u茅 hay en un nombre? La pol铆tica de los s铆ntomas post鈥 covid en tres pa铆ses鈥. Ciencia, P煤blico y Sociedad 1(1): 3鈥22.
    • English Version: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 in a Name? Contrasting the Politics of Post鈥慍ovid Symptoms Across Three Countries鈥 
  • Renan Gon莽alves Leonel da Silva, Larry Au, and Alessandro Blasimme. 2024. 鈥淥rganizational aspects of tissue engineering clinical translation: Insights from a qualitative case study鈥. Translational Medicine Communications 9: 17.
  • Renan Gon莽alves Leonel da Silva, Jakob Jakob Schweizer, Kalina Kamenova, Larry Au, Alessandro Blasimme, and Effy Vayena. 2024. 鈥淥rganizational Change of Synthetic Biology Research: Emerging Initiatives Advancing a Bottom鈥慤p Approach鈥. Current Research in Biotechnology 7: 100188.
  • Larry Au. 2023. 鈥淓thical Choreography in China鈥檚 Human Gene Editing Controversy鈥. Science as Culture 32(4): 535-557.
  • Larry Au, Cristian Capotescu, Amanda Curi, Renan Gon莽alves Leonel da Silva, and Gil Eyal. 2023. 鈥淟ong Covid Requires a Global Response Centered on Equity and Dialogue鈥. Global Health Action 16(1): 2244757.
  • Larry Au, Cristian Capotescu, Gil Eyal, and Gabrielle Finestone. 2022. 鈥淟ong Covid and Medical Gaslighting: Dismissal, Delayed Diagnosis, and Deferred Treatment鈥. SSM - Qualitative Research in Health 2: 100167. 
    • Received the 2023 Star-Nelkin Paper Award from the American Sociological Association's Science, Knowledge, and Technology Section
  • Larry Au and Gil Eyal. 2022. 鈥淲hose Advice is Credible? Claiming Lay Expertise on a Covid-19 Online Community鈥. Qualitative Sociology 45(1): 31-62.
  • Larry Au, Zheng Fu, and Chuncheng Liu. 2022. 鈥溾業t鈥檚 (Not) Like the Flu鈥: Expert Narratives and the Covid-19 Pandemic in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and the United States鈥. Sociological Forum 37(3).
  • Renan Gon莽alves Leonel da Silva and Larry Au. 2022. 鈥淭he Blind Spots of Sociotechnical Imaginaries: Covid-19 Skepticism in Brazil, United Kingdom, and the United States鈥. Science, Technology and Society
  • Larry Au. 2022. 鈥淭esting the Talented Child: Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Talent Tests in China鈥. Public Understanding of Science 31(2): 195-210.
  • Larry Au. 2022. 鈥淚magining the Public: Anticipatory Discourses in China鈥檚 Push for Precision Medicine鈥. BioSocieties 17(1): 53-77.
  • Larry Au. 2021. 鈥淩ecent Scientific/Intellectual Movements in Biomedicine鈥. Social Science & Medicine 278: 113950.
  • Larry Au and Renan Gon莽alves Leonel da Silva. 2021. 鈥淕lobalizing the Scientific Bandwagon: Trajectories of Precision Medicine in Brazil and China鈥. Science, Technology, & Human Values 46(1): 192-225.

 

Reviews

  • Alya Guseva, Larry Au, and Etienne Nouguez. 2024. "Book Review Symposium of Capitalizing a Cure: How Finance Controls the Price and Value of Medicines by Victor Roy". Socio-Economic Review 22(2): 953-965.
  • Larry Au. 2024. 鈥淏ook Review of A Research Agenda for COVID鈥19 and Society edited by Steve Matthewman鈥. Contemporary Sociology 53:1: 71鈥73.
  • Larry Au. 2023. 鈥淏ook Review of On Expertise: Cultivating Character, Goodwill, and Practical Wisdom by Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher鈥. Contemporary Sociology 52(5): 465鈥466.
  • Larry Au. 2023. 鈥淓xpertise, translation, and pandemics鈥. International Sociology Reviews 38(2): 175-181.
  • Larry Au. 2023. 鈥淏ook Review of Asian Scientists on the Move: Changing Science in a Changing Asia by Anju Mary Paul鈥. East Asian Science, Technology and Society 17(1): 114鈥117.
  • Larry Au. 2023. 鈥淏ook Review of The Elephant and the Dragon in Contemporary Life Sciences: A Call for Decolonising Global Governance by Joy Y. Zhang and Saheli Datta Burton鈥. The Journal of Development Studies 59(3): 452-453.
  • Larry Au. 2022. 鈥淏ook Review of Mass Vaccination: Citizens鈥 Bodies and State Power in Modern China by Mary Augusta Brazelton鈥. Sociology of Health & Illness 44(1): 262-263.
  • Larry Au. 2021. 鈥淭he board game Pandemic: Sociotechnical imaginaries of cooperation obscuring power relations鈥. Science as Culture 30(4): 598-602.