Jolien Gijbels

Jolien Gijbels is an Assistant Professor of History at the Free University of Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), specializing in the history of medicine, technology, and gender in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She is a member of the SHOC research group and actively contributes to academic leadership initiatives.

• Doctoral research (KU Leuven, 2021): Religion, medical ethics, and difficult births in 19th-century Belgium
• Postdoctoral experience: KU Leuven, Johns Hopkins University (Fulbright/BAEF fellow), Utrecht University (Junior Fellow, Descartes Centre)

Her current project, Negotiating Consent: Patient Agency and Surgery (1900–2000), explores evolving doctor-patient dynamics in gynecological surgery. Publications span topics like obstetric dilemmas, reproductive surgery, and medicine-religion intersections in journals such as Bulletin of the History of Medicine and Annales de Démographie Historique.

Scientific Awards:

• DHST Dissertation Prize (2023)
• Jan Gillis-prijs (2022)
• Pieter van Foreest aanmoedigingsprijs (2020)

As book editor of Wonderkamer and vice president of Gewina, she bridges academic and public discourse on science history. Recent presentations include surgical consent at Johns Hopkins and patient narratives in Utrecht.