Alexandre Wenger

Alexandre Wenger is a Full Professor of Medical Humanities at the University of Geneva's Faculty of Medicine and Director of the Interfaculty Center for Bioethics and Human Sciences in Medicine (Cibshm). His academic career spans multiple institutions, including the University of Fribourg where he served as full professor from 2011 to 2017, creating and directing the interdisciplinary program 'Medicine and Society'.

Trained in literature and the history of medicine, Wenger defended his doctoral thesis at the University of Geneva in 2005 on 'the pathogenic effects attributed to reading by 18th-century doctors.' His research focuses on the historical links between medicine and the arts (poetry, novel, cinema), with particular emphasis on the history of syphilis. He is currently co-PI of the FNS/ANR ArchiMed project (2024-2028) on mining medical archives in the digital age, and recently completed an international FNS Sinergia project on syphilis as a model for understanding neverending infectious diseases (2020-2024).

Wenger's scholarly output reveals consistent thematic threads across centuries of medical literature and practice. His work demonstrates how medical knowledge has been transmitted through various media forms, particularly focusing on dermatological wax casts, venereal disease representation in literature, and the portrayal of physicians in fiction. His research bridges historical medical practices with contemporary ethical concerns, showing how narrative approaches can illuminate current medical challenges.

• Member of the International Advisory Board of the University of Grenoble
• Former member of the Clinical Ethics Council of Geneva University Hospitals
• Coordinator of the CineMed platform connecting cinema and medicine
• Regular organizer of international academic events including World Knowledge Dialogue (2021) and Brocher Summer School (2023)

As an educator, Wenger coordinates Medical Humanities courses, directs Masters of Medicine programs in 'Literature, Cinema and Medicine,' and teaches the Internal Medicine course 'The Doctor and the Dying.' He also serves on the Faculty Working Group on the Use of Generative AI in Teaching and contributed to the federal PROFILES framework for medical education in Switzerland. His laboratory work focuses on the Medical Humanities research group, which collaborates with hospital clinicians, cultural institutions, and international organizations including WHO and MSF.