Dr Timothy Sim

Profile

I am a historian of science and medicine in the twentieth century, with broad interests in histories of public health, environment, and human and non-human ecologies. I have particular expertise in histories of insect-borne disease and control, especially dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever, the world's fastest growing mosquito-borne disease.

I joined Leeds in 2026 as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow after obtaining a PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge in the same year. My doctoral research investigated the history of the anti-dengue program in Singapore from 1965 to 2000, which was arguably the oldest and most well-known program in the world. Individual chapters explored the transition from malaria to dengue control, the role of local participation and global networks in consolidating knowledge and practice, and the recurrence of crisis narratives in explaining and justifying public health measures. My current research project is a Global South history of dengue fever that focuses on connections between scientists in Southeast Asia in Latin America (see below).

I have reviewed a number of dengue-related books for Isis and H-Net, and have written public-facing pieces for the BSHS Viewpoint, Leverhulme Trust Newsletter, and Rockefeller Archive Center (pending). Beyond dengue, in 2026 with Erinn Campbell I co-wrote a chapter on insect control in the WHO and FAO for the Routledge Handbook of Health and Environmental Humanities.

In 2023 I was awarded Honourable Mention in the DHST Commission on Science, Technology and Diplomacy (STAND) Early Career Prize for an essay on the reception of Singapore’s vector control program within regional and global scientific networks. In 2025 I won the Craig A. Lockard Prize for best early career journal on Malaysia, Singapore, or Brunei from the MSB Studies Group of the Association of Asian Studies for an article in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine on public engagement with mosquito control campaigns in Singapore.

Research interests

My first book project, tentatively titled Mosquitoes in the Garden City: Dengue Fever and Public Health in Singapore, 1965 – 2025, draws on my doctoral research to explore the delicate political and ecological balance required to control humans and mosquitoes in a self-proclaimed Garden City. It is oriented around a narrative of success and resurgence. From 1965 to 1985, Singaporean health authorities enlisted citizens in mosquito prevention projects that dramatically reduced dengue incidence and garnered worldwide attention. But from 1986 to 2025, epidemics returned despite low mosquito densities, prompting both local and global pessimism about the limits of vector control. The book will examine the social and environmental factors that made control and then resurgence possible and consider the implications of this history for global dengue control today.

My current project, which is funded by the Leverhulme Trust, is a Global South history of dengue fever that focuses on connections between scientists in Southeast Asia and Latin America. While dengue is frequently presented as an 'emerging' or 'neglected' disease, and there is no doubt that climate change and urbanization are increasing its range, it has long been a public health priority in the Global South. This project seeks to challenge narratives of dengue's newness by centering the perspective of Southeast Asians and Latin Americans from 1950 to 2000.

The project asks: To what extent did debates about diagnosis and surveillance of dengue stimulate international collaboration, and how did these South-South networks stabilise knowledge about the disease? What were the control strategies that different health authorities used, and how were these strategies influenced by social, economic, and (geo)political considerations? What were the similarities, differences, and unexpected connections between Southeast Asia and Latin America, two regions that have rarely been considered in parallel? Taken together, the project will recover the pioneering global health contributions of Global South scientists and advance a novel transregional perspective on health networks and diplomacy.

Primary investigator (PI)

• Dengue in the Global South: Southeast Asia and Latin America

Qualifications

• PhD in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge (2026)
• MSci and BA in Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge (2021)