hartmann@soz.uni-frankfurt.de

Short Vita
Viona is a Ph.D. candidate in the DFG research training group „Fixing Futures.“ She studied Sociology and Political Science at the University of Cologne and Goethe University Frankfurt. During her studies, she worked as a research assistant for the ERC project „Cryosocieties“ from 2019 to 2023 at Goethe University. Viona’s research interests include sociological and feminist theory, environmental humanities, (feminist) science and technology studies, and medical anthropology.

Project Description
In my PhD project, I am investigating antimicrobial resistances (AMR) and multi-drug resistant bacteria (MDR bacteria) while exploring innovative technologies to counter them and the risks they pose to the future of public health. In 2015, the WHO declared AMR as one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity in the decades to come. According to the WHO, AMR contributes to over one million deaths per year, and this number is projected to multiply in the future. So far, solutions to these challenges have primarily focused on the discovery and development of new antibiotics. However, there is a high likelihood that this approach will prove insufficient. For this reason, I specifically aim to explore different research and development-centered approaches and therapeutics that follow novel pathways to counter AMR. I trace innovative technologies which aim to develop more effective therapeutics in the future, thereby offering not only new pathways for medicine but also creating different ideas on how microbial futures might look. Therefore, my project investigates new therapeutic strategies as part of what I term ‚future-making practices,‘ which enable specific versions of the future while preventing others.