I am a social anthropologist by training and received my PhD in Anthropology from the University of Queensland. I currently work as Research Fellow in Social Science at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. My current project investigates the strategies of integrating social science into the epidemic responses in Africa.

My research interests revolve around gender and health in Central Asia, China and Sub-Saharan Africa. My doctoral research investigates how young Uzbek men navigate the tension between social expectations and their personal aspirations amidst recent social change such as economic liberalization and re-traditionalization. Prior to my doctoral studies, I was a research assistant and coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Project China, examining the social and ethical implications of HIV cure among key populations in China. 

As part of my doctoral research, I have leveraged digital methods, with TikTok playing a crucial role in recruitment and data collection. Additionally, I am proficient in several languages, including Mandarin, Uzbek and Uyghur.

When I need a break from research, I go hiking and long-distance cycling.

Selected Publications

Zhao, Yang (2023).TikTok and researcher positionality: Considering the methodological and ethical implications of an experimental digital ethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. Accepted.

Zhao, Yang (2023).Chopping carrots and becoming ‘real’ men: Uzbek boys, household work and the reproduction of masculinities in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. Gender and Education, 1-16. doi: 10.1080/09540253.2023.226302

Stahl, Garth and Zhao, Yang (Eds.) (2023). Migratory men: place, transnationalism and masculinities. Routledge.

Zhao, Yang (2022). Breadwinning, migration, and nation-building: a critical scoping review of men, masculinities, and social change in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies, 17 (2), 1-19. doi: 10.1080/18902138.2022.2026106 

Zhao, Yang, Day, Suzanne, Yang, Nancy S., Bao, Huanyu, Li, Linghua, Mathews, Allison and Tucker, Joseph D. (2020). Crowdsourcing contests to facilitate community engagement in HIV cure research: a qualitative evaluation of facilitators and barriers of participation. BMC Public Health, 20 (1) 67, 67. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-8185-z 

Zhao, Yang, Fitzpatrick, Thomas, Wan, Bin, Day, Suzanne, Mathews, Allison and Tucker, Joseph D. (2019). Forming and implementing community advisory boards in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review. BMC Medical Ethics, 20 (1) 73. doi: 10.1186/s12910-019-0409-3