Gabriele Alex

Prof. Dr. Gabriele Alex is a faculty member at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, within the Faculty of Philosophy. Her academic career spans institutions including the University of Heidelberg, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (MPI MMG), and Westfälische Wilhelms University of Münster. She earned her PhD in Social Anthropology and MSc in Medical Anthropology from Brunel University, with a Magister Artium in Ethnology, Sociology, and Journalism from Freie Universität Berlin.

• Education: PhD (Social Anthropology), MSc (Medical Anthropology) – Brunel University; Magister Artium – Freie Universität Berlin

Dr. Alex’s research focuses on medical anthropology, ethnicity, healing and identity, and youth and childhood, with fieldwork in India and Germany. Her projects include DIMA (Doctor in the Museum), EthnOA (Open Access in Ethnological Disciplines), and SFB 1070 Resource Cultures, examining health, cultural heritage, and resource dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her recent publications analyze the Vagri tribe’s oral traditions, medical pluralism in South India, and edited special issues on therapeutic practices. Articles highlight intersections of caste, gender, and healthcare access in Tamil Nadu, with keywords spanning Social Morphology, Medical Systems, and Postcolonial Health.

Scientific awards include an academic fellowship at the Institut Francais de Pondichery. She supervises PhD candidates studying topics like health resources during/after the pandemic, asylum policies, and cultural knowledge of medicinal plants. Her teaching experience includes courses on medical anthropology at the University of Luzern and Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg.

Current affiliations: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, and Institut Francais de Pondichery.