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Kiran Pienaar’s research focusses on the social constitution of addiction, the body in society, and the biopolitics of health and illness. She has a multidisciplinary background in Gender Studies, Sociology and Applied Linguistics. Previously, she was a lecturer in Linguistics at Rhodes University, South Africa. She has also worked in the Faculties of Arts, and Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University. Her doctoral research – an analysis of HIV/AIDS in South Africa under the Mbeki government – was concerned with the role of politics in materialising HIV in specific, sometimes damaging ways. The analysis offers a unique recasting of the political conflict over HIV that emerged under former President Mbeki, and a novel approach to understanding some of the most intractable challenges posed by the South African epidemic. Kiran’s current research program focusses on experiences of addiction, treatment and recovery in Australia. The research will inform the development of an online resource for those affected by addiction, health professionals and policymakers. Kiran is an invited reviewer for several international journals. She is also a member of the Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Association (AWGSA) and Nexus: Monash Social Science, Humanities and Medicine Network.