Dr Salim Al-Gailani

Position Governing Body Fellow
School Humanities and Social Sciences Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Email ssa32@cam.ac.uk
Department link

Salim is a historian of medicine specialising in the history of modern reproduction, public health, and disability. He teaches in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science.

Salim has a BA in History from UCL, and an MPhil and PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from Cambridge. After completing his PhD on the history of antenatal care in Britain, he joined the Wellcome Trust-funded ‘Generation to Reproduction’ Strategic Award at Cambridge as a Research Associate. He held a fellowship at the University of Manchester at Teaching Associateships at Cambridge before being appointed to an Assistant Professorship in 2020.

Broadly interested in the histories of modern medicine, biomedical sciences and public health, Salim's research has explored transformations in the experience and management of pregnancy and childbirth since the late nineteenth century, from the rise of hospital birth to the introduction of new technologies prenatal diagnosis.

Much of Salim's current work has focused on the relationship between medicine, disability, and reproduction, including how disability becomes defined, medicalized, and marginalized in modern British history. He is currently working on a book that examines the history of folic acid as a technology of pregnancy, with its implications beyond reproduction for the globalization of biomedical knowledge, the management of risk and the role of consumer activism in shaping public health policy.

Salim has also published widely on the visual and material and cultures of science and medicine, including toy chemistry sets, nutritional supplements, anatomical images, and educational films.

What's on

Event Type (field_event_type)

A triptych of abstract images: a smooth round stone nestled in a curved rock, distorted eyeglass frames scattered on a white background, and a high-contrast black and white microscopic image resembling organic or cellular structures.

Art Exhibition: ��ӽ紫ýat 60

14/06/2025 at 10.00

Celebrating Wolfson’s 60th anniversary year, this exhibition highlights the range of artistic disciplines and styles that have made up our exhibitions over the years.