Jonathan Stillo

Jonathan Stillo

Dr. Jonathan Stillo is a medical anthropologist and an assistant professor who teaches anthropology and public health at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. His work and passion focuses on using anthropological and global health approaches to reduce human suffering in the world. He has received research grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of State, Fulbright-Hays and The Social Science Research Council, among others.

Since 2006, Jonathan has been researching tuberculosis (TB) in Romania—including living at a Romanian TB sanatorium for several months and interviewing hundreds of patients over the course of more than five years living in Romania. His research focuses on the social, economic and structural aspects of TB, particularly antibiotic resistant varieties. Jonathan has served as an international expert on the World Health Organization teams that conducted the 2014 review of Romania’s national TB program, as well as the TB program review in Republic of Moldova in 2013. In 2016, he was the lead author of an ECDC supported proposal for introducing integrated, community based support for people with TB in Romania. He is the elected vice-chair of the TB Europe Coalition, elected chair elect of STOP TB USA, and a member of the Global TB Community Advisory Board. He served as the coordinator of the World Health Organization' European Office's working group on Patient Centered Tuberculosis Care between 2019 and 2022.

I am actively recruiting M.A. and Ph.D. students who are interested in global health, tuberculosis, health equity, health and human rights and patient/person-centered care. Contact the department for more information about our graduate programs or email me to discuss the possibility of coming to study with me at Wayne State. 

Research interest(s)/area of expertise

Medical anthropology, global health, tuberculosis, infectious disease, antibiotic resistant infections, health and human rights, social determinants of health, mental health, health systems, development, postsocialism, Romania.

Education

• Ph.D. in Anthropology, City University of New York Graduate Center, 2017
• M.Phil in Anthropology, City University of New York Graduate Center, 2008
• B.A. in Anthropology, Central Connecticut State University, 2003

Selected publications

• 2024. Stillo, Jonathan. Connecting the DOTS: Should we still be doing directly observed therapy? Human Organization. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00187259.2023.2286173?src=exp-la
• 2024. Cernasev, Alina, Jonathan Stillo, Jolie Black, Mythili Batchu, Elaina Bell, and Cynthia A. Tschampl. 2024. "Pharmacists’ Role in Global TB Elimination: Practices, Pitfalls, and Potential" Healthcare 12, no. 11: 1137. doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12111137
• 2023. Stillo, Jonathan, Mike Frick, James Galarza, Sergey Kondratyuk, Albert Makone, Lindsey McKenna, Wim Vandevelde, Paran Winarni, and Patrick Agbassi. Addressing the needs of people with extensively drug-resistant TB through pre-approval access to drugs and research. Public Health Action. 2023 Dec; 13(4): 126–129. doi: 10.5588/pha.23.0033
• 2023. O. Rucsineanu,  P. Agbassi, R. Herrera, M. Low, L. McKenna, J. Stillo, P. Winarni, A. Acharya, and A. H. Sari. Shorter TB treatment regimens should be safer as well. Public Health Action. 2023 Sep 21; 13(3): 104–106. doi: 10.5588/pha.23.0026
• 2023. A. Makone, K. Angami, D. Bhattacharya, M. Frick, J. G. Castillo, R. Herrera, L. McKenna, G. K. Moses, O. Rucsineanu, A. H. Sari, J. Stillo, and P. Agbassi. One size does not fit all: community views on choices for TB treatment and prevention. Public Health Action. 2023 Sep 21; 13(3): 67–69. doi: 10.5588/pha.23.0034
• 2023. Stillo, Jonathan. Being “Cured” but No Longer Being Yourself: Tuberculosis Sequelae and the Unseen Second Lives of Romanian Tuberculosis Survivors. AnthroArt June 2023. theanthro.art/being-cured-but-no-longer-being-yourself-tuberculosis-sequelae-and-the-unseen-second-lives-of-romanian-tuberculosis-survivors-jonathan-stillo, now available as a podcast: rss.com/podcasts/anthroart/1056653
• 2021. Almeida, Adam, Worknesh Bushura, Enrique Delgado, Michael Drasher, Mildred Fernando-Pancho, Morina Gasane, Maria Virgina Ianosi, Erica Lessem, Alhassan Musah, Ştefan Raduţ, Carlos Hernán Sánchez Ríos, Ko Soe Soe, Nandita Venkatesan, Veronica V. Villegas, and Jonathan Stillo. 2021. “Hear Us! Testimonials of Persons Treated with Injectables for Drug-resistant TB”. Public Health Action Sep 21;11(3) pp 146-154. doi.org/10.5588/pha.21.0031
• 2020. Stillo, Jonathan, Mike Frick, and Yali Cong. “Upholding Ethical Values and Human Rights on New Frontiers of TB Care and Control”. The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. 24(1) pp. 48-56. doi.org/10.5588/ijtld.17.0897
• 2020. "I wish one of these patients would sue us:" Malpractice at the policy level and how Romania is not treating M/XDR- TB this year. In Understanding Tuberculosis and its Control : Anthropological and Ethnographic Approaches Macdonald, Helen and Ian Harper, eds. New York: Routledge. researchgate.net/publication/336328492_'I_wish_one_of_these_patients_would_sue_us'_Malpractice_at_the_policy_level_and_how_Romania_is_not_treating_MXDR-_TB_this_year
• 2019. Kogieleum Naidoo, Santhanalakshmi Gengiah, Satvinder Singh, Jonathan Stillo, Nesri Padayatchi. Quality of TB care among People Living with HIV: Gaps and Solutions, Journal of Clinical Tuberculosis and Other Mycobacterial Diseases (2019), doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.jctube.2019.100122
• 2019. Cox, Vivian, Helen Cox, Madhukar Pai, Jonathan Stillo, Brian Citro, Grania Brigden. Health care gaps in the global burden of drug-resistant tuberculosis. The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. 23. 2 (2019): 125-135. doi.org/10.5588/ijtld.18.0866
• 2019. Oxana Rucsineanu, Jonathan Stillo, Andries, Georgeta, and Caitlin Cassady. The impact of long-term hospitalisation on psychosocial life of persons with tuberculosis. Prepared as part of the World Health Organization EURO TB-REP project supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. smitmd.wordpress.com/2019/01/31/impact-of-long-term-hospitalization-on-people-with-tuberculosis
• 2018. Rucşineanu, Oxana, Jonathan Stillo, Veronica Ateș and Inga Sorocean. Assessing the satisfaction level of tuberculosis patients in regards to medical services and community support during treatment. Prepared as part of the WHO EURO TB-REP project supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. smitmd.wordpress.com/2018/05/31/assessing-the-satisfaction-level-of-tuberculosis-patients-in-regards-to-medical-services-and-community-support-during-treatment
• 2018. Sommerfeld, Paul, Evgenia Geliukh, Lee Reichman, Jonathan Stillo, Sayohat Hasanova, Martin van den Boom, and Masoud Dara. Ambulatory Care and Infectiousness in Tuberculosis. Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Available online at: euro.who.int/en/health-topics/communicable-diseases/tuberculosis/publications/2018/ambulatory-care-and-infectiousness-in-tuberculosis-2018
• 2017. Reuter, Anja, Phumeza Tisile, Dalene von Delft, Helen Cox, Vivian Cox, Lucica Ditiu, Antonio Garcia-Prats, Serena Koenig, Erica Lessem, Ruvandhi Nathavitharana, James A. Seddon, Jonathan Stillo, Arne von Delft, Jennifer Furin. “The Devil We Know: Is the Use of Injectable Agents for the Treatment of MDR-TB Justified?” The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. 21. 11 (2017): 1114-1126. ingentaconnect.com/contentone/iuatld/ijtld/2017/00000021/00000011/art00006
• 2017. Ndishimye, Pacifique, Bianka Domokos, Jonathan Stillo, Fouad Seghrouchni, Oulaya Mrabet, Daniela Homorodean, Carmen Monica Pop, and Abderrahim Sadak. “Risk Factors for Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Romania: A Matched Case - Control Study”. Clujul Medical. 90. 1 (2017): 54-59. Print
• 2017. Voitzwinkler, Fanny, Paul Sommerfeld, Jonathan Stillo, Nonna Turusbekova, Safarali Naimov, Ksenia Schchenina, Oxana Rucsineanu, and Yuliya Chorna. “Moving to People Centered Care: Achieving Better TB Outcomes” Guide for People-Centered TB Care Produced by TB Europe Coalition and Alliance for Public Health as part of the Global Fund Grant to the WHO Europe Office and Eastern Europe and Central Asian Countries (TB-REP)
• 2017. Stillo, Jonathan and Nonna Turusbekova. Romanian Integrated Community Support Services for Tuberculosis. Prepared for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the Romanian National TB Control Program. ECDC, 2017
• 2016. Stillo, Jonathan. “Unknown Unknowns: Poverty and Tuberculosis in Romania”. Europe Now Journal. 1 (2016). Web. europenowjournal.org/2016/10/31/unknown-unknowns-poverty-and-tuberculosis-in-romania
• 2015. Stillo, Jonathan. “‘We Are the Losers of Socialism:’ The Limits of Bio-Citizenship and the Future of Care in Romania”. Anthropological Journal of European Cultures. 24(1) pp 132-140
• 2015. Lessem, Erica, Helen Cox, Colleen Daniels, Jennifer Furin, Lindsay McKenna, Carole D. Mitnick, Thato Mosidi, Caitlin Reed, Barbara Seaworth, Jonathan Stillo, Phumeza Tisile, and Dalene von Delft. “Access to New Medications for the Treatment of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Patient, Provider and Community Perspectives”. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 32(1) pp 56-60. ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(14)01729-9/abstract
• 2015. World Health Organization (co-author). Review of the National Tuberculosis Programme in Romania, 10-21 March 2014. Geneva: World Health Organization. euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/269269/Review-of-the-national-tuberculosis-programme-in-Romania.pdf
• 2014. Stillo, Jonathan. “TB in Romania: For Patients Waiting for XDR-TB Treatment in Romania, Someday Never Comes”. TB Europe Coalition
• 2013. World Health Organization (co-author). Review of the National Tuberculosis Programme in the Republic of Moldova, 4-15 February 2013. Geneva: World Health Organization. euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/236154/e96959.pdf
• 2013. Diel, Roland, Joris Vandeputte, Gerard de Vries, Jonathan Stillo, Maryse Wanlin, and Albert Nienhaus. “Costs of Tuberculosis Disease in the EU - A Systematic Analysis and Cost Calculation”. European Respiratory Journal. 43(2) pp 554-565
• 2012. Stillo, Jonathan. “Who Cares for the Caregivers: Romanian Women’s Experiences with Tuberculosis”. Anthropology Now.  4(1) pp 10-17
• 2012. Stillo, Jonathan. “An Obituary for Iulian, a Romanian XDR-TB Patient, Husband, Father and My Friend”. Cacophony: Communication across the Curriculum. Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute. Available online at cac.ophony.org/2012/05/29/an-obituary-for-iulian-a-romanian-xdr-tb-patient-husband-father-and-my-friend
• 2012. Stillo, Jonathan. “‘All My Problems Started with Tuberculosis:’ An Ethnographic Analysis of Treatment Failure in Romania”. IREX Scholar Research Brief. irex.org/sites/default/files/Stillo-%20Final%20Research%20Brief-%20Revised.pdf
• 2012. Stillo, Jonathan. “Socially Incurable Tuberculosis: Romania’s Incurable, Curable Disease” (in Romanian). CriticAtac. criticatac.ro/19747/tuberculoz-socialmente-incurabil-incurabila-boal-curabil-romaniei
• 2011. Stillo, Jonathan. “The Romanian Tuberculosis Epidemic as a Symbol of Public Health”. Romania under Băsescu: Aspirations, Achievements, and Frustrations during His First Presidential Term. Ed. Ronald F. King and Paul E. Sum. Lantham, MD: Lexington Books, 2011. Print

Citation index

• Google Scholar

Courses taught by Jonathan Stillo

Winter Term 2025 (future)

• PH3410 - Global Health
• ANT3410 - Global Health

Fall Term 2024 (current)

• ANT5700 - Applied Anthropology

Winter Term 2024

• ANT3410 - Global Health
• ANT5400 - Anthropology of Health and Illness

Fall Term 2023

• ANT3410 - Global Health
• PH3410 - Global Health
• HON4260 - Seminar in Foreign Culture
• ANT5700 - Applied Anthropology

Winter Term 2023

• ANT3410 - Global Health
• ANT5400 - Anthropology of Health and Illness

Fall Term 2022

• ANT5700 - Applied Anthropology
• GLS3410 - Global Health
• PH3410 - Global Health
• ANT3410 - Global Health

Winter Term 2022

• ANT3410 - Global Health
• ANT5400 - Anthropology of Health and Illness