His research focuses on the political organizing of LGBT groups in Yunnan, China as they cooperate with the local government to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. 

His teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include Sociology of Gender; Medical Anthropology; China Studies; and NGO Studies. 

Wortham has notable publications in the journals of Medical Anthropology, Journal of Contemporary China and Asian Studies Review.  He is currently working on his book, Queer Collusion: HIV Quotas and LGBT Politics in Yunnan, China.  He is also the Secretary of the Association of Queer Anthropology. 

Wortham has a B.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Texas Austin (2012) and an M.A. (2018) and Ph.D. (2021) in Applied Anthropology from Columbia University.  He was a postdoctoral fellow at New York University Shanghai (2022-2024) and the University of Nottingham Ningbo (2021) and taught at Kunming University of Science and Technology (2021-2022).  Before beginning his Ph.D. he was a fellow with Teach for China (2013-2015).