Marek Eby

Profile

I am a historian of medicine and public health in the Soviet Union, focusing on infectious disease epidemics and disease control programs. I was educated in Canada and the United States, receiving my PhD from New York University (NYU) in 2025. Currently, I am a Research Fellow in Global Health History in the Wellcome Trust-funded project ‘The Soviet Union, the WHO, and Global Health, 1957-1991.’ Previously, I have held Visiting Scholar positions at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University and the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia at NYU. For my PhD and other projects, I have conducted research in Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Switzerland (Geneva), the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Research interests

In my current position, my research examines the international history of Soviet malaria experts and malaria control methods during the postwar period. My PhD dissertation (New York University, 2025) explored the history of Soviet malaria control campaigns during the interwar period, with a focus on the region of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan). In it, I demonstrated that Soviet ideas and methods developed in interaction with transnational discipline of malariology, but were also deeply embedded within the structures and practices of Soviet state power.

Beyond my work on malaria, I have conducted research on Soviet nation-building and modernization in Central Asia, and the history of Soviet Studies as a discipline in the United States. More broadly, I am interested in the interconnected histories of science, international politics, and social transformation in the Twentieth Century.

Qualifications

• PhD, History, New York University
• MA, Russian, European, and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University
• BA, History and Politics Studies, Bishop's University

Research groups and institutes

• Politics, Diplomacy, and International History
• Health Histories
• Empires and Aftermath