Scientist, writer and traveller Elizabeth Pisani was born in the United States and spent her childhood in Western Europe, where she learned German, French and Spanish. She was educated in the British system, and has an MA in classical Chinese from Oxford University, and an MSc in Medical Demography and a PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology, both from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Hungry in Hong Kong after several months wandering around China and Tibet, Elizabeth joined Reuters news agency as a graduate trainee, and was duly educated in “Bar space” and other essentials of the foreign correspondent’s trade by the legendary George Short. She was posted in Hong Kong, New Delhi and Jakarta and also covered other major stories in the region, notably the entry of Chinese troops into Tiananmen Square to quell protest on June 4th 1989. Elizabeth was also Indonesia Correspondent for The Economist newspaper.

In the mid-1990s, Elizabeth worked for the over-financed and under-managed Asia Times newspaper, as Bureau Chief for Indochina. The Bangkok-based paper provided an opportunity to cover business and banditry in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and eventually in Brussels.

Between reporting engagements, Elizabeth did a Masters of Science in medical demography, and by the late 1990s she was based in Kenya and working with the World Health Organisation, UNAIDS and others, trying to improve our understanding of the HIV epidemic and prompt an appropriate response. This work took her back to Indonesia, where she was employed by Family Health International to work with the Indonesian Ministry of Health to strengthen HIV surveillance systems. She has conducted research and/or helped analyse data on HIV, sexually transmitted infections and sexual and drug-taking behaviour in Indonesia, East Timor, Bangladesh, the Philippines and China. This work contributed material to the PhD in infectious disease epidemiology which she acquired from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine.

Elizabeth's first book, The Wisdom of Whores, will be published by Granta in April 2008. A lively account of a decade spent in brothels and boardrooms trying to make sense of the multi-billin dollar AIDS industry, the book will also be published in the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Italy. Elizabeth is represented by Felicity Bryan at the Felicity Bryan Agency in the UK, and by George Lucas at Inkwell Management in the United States.