Walls of secrecy
Walls of Secrecy and Silence in the Human Organ Trade: Facilitating, Concealing and Laundering Illegal Transplants
We are proud to present our latest project, funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant. This project commenced April 1st 2025 and will run for a period of 5 years, in collaboration with the Department of Law, Society and Crime of Erasmus University Rotterdam.
This research aims to understand how, where and why medical/legal businesses facilitate, conceal and launder illegal transplants and assesses the implications for anti-organ trade responses.
The aims will be addressed through online research, ethnographic fieldwork and studies of the most recently prosecuted cases across the globe. The project is guided by a unique theoretical framework that combines notions from criminology, transplant medicine and medical ethics.
The team members are:
- Dr. Frederike Ambagtsheer, PI / co-pr
omotor - Prof. Dr. Marc Hemmelder, first promotor of the PhD students
- Dr. Robby Roks, second promotor of the PhD students
omotor
Two PhD students have joined the team in January 2026. Their profiles will be showcased here after the data collection period.
