Roberto Abadie

My book, The Professional Guinea Pig: Big Pharma and the Risky World of Human Subjects (Duke, 2010), analyzes the emergence of professional trial participants in Phase I clinical studies. Drawing on ethnographic research in Philadelphia, a hub of clinical trial activity, it shows how drug development relies on the exploitation and dehumanization of the “professional guinea pigs.” The study reveals how knowledge about drug toxicity arises through social arrangements shaped by local and international regulations, capital circulation, and scientific and pharmaceutical cultures. I argue that the role of body commodification and the labor of professional trial subjects is obscured by pharmaceutical discourses that emphasize voluntariness and altruism. More recently, I helped create a global registry to prevent over-volunteering in Phase I trials. This initiative aims to mitigate risks to human volunteers by limiting the number and frequency of studies in which they participate, underscoring my commitment to social justice in pharmaceutical research.