Postdoctoral Researcher
Microsoft Research New England

Hello!

I’m Kathryne (Kate) Metcalf, a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England. I’m also an incoming Assistant Professor in the UC Berkeley School of Information (starting July 2026). I’m a humanistic social scientist interested in how data infrastructures shape the production of knowledge, particularly in biomedical research. I work between perspectives from Science & Technology Studies (STS) as well as the history and sociology of genetics. My projects examine a diverse array of clinical entities and computational apparatuses, but share a commitment to understanding how data-based systems (re)structure social relations and our knowledge of human biological difference. In doing so, I center data justice—for patients, research participants, and all other data subjects—as a key value of my work.

I received my PhD from the Department of Communication and the Science Studies Program at the University of California San Diego. In a past life I was a science writer at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and I’m still passionate about science communication. I also hold an MA in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University, and a BA in Literary Studies from Beloit College.

Interests

• Critical Data Studies

• Knowledge Infrastructures

• ML/AI in Health Systems

• Genetics and Society (ELSI)

• Privacy and Surveillance Studies

• Prediction and the Risk Society