Alka V. Menon is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, a Research Fellow at the Macmillan Center for International and Area Studies, and a member of the Council for Southeast Asian Studies at Yale University. She researches processes of standardization and globalization, especially in the context of healthcare. Currently, she is working on a book tentatively titled Crafting Race: Global Cosmetic Surgery and the New Art and Science of Difference. Drawing on fieldwork in the U.S. and Malaysia, the book investigates how racial categories operate as partial standards in global cosmetic surgery. In addition, she studies how new technologies in medicine, including apps and imaging software, shape patient trust and clinical practice.