Paula Michaels’ work bridges the histories of Eastern and Western Europe, integrating the USSR into a pan-European and global narrative through the study of social and cultural history. More recently her research has reached into the histories of North America and Australia.

Michaels is especially interested in the ways that medicine is mobilised to further political and social objectives. She is currently pursuing two major projects, both of which concern the history of Soviet medical internationalism. The first, under contract with Johns Hopkins University Press, examines US-Soviet medical engagement from 1941-1991. The second, funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant, triangulates Soviet, Czechoslovak, Cuban relations to explore Second-Third World medical exchange. 

Michaels welcomes inquires from potential honours and postgraduate students in the history of medicine, gender history, and Russian, East European, and Eurasian history.