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Dr Salim Al-Gailani

Dr Salim Al-Gailani

BA MPhil PhD

  • 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.

Dr Salim Al-Gailani

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

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: Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çat 60

21/06/2025 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.

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A group of people stands outdoors near a table with books and papers, attentively reading or listening during a gathering.

WolfWords Launch and Poetry Reading

27/06/2025 at 11.00

Please come and join us for the launch of this year's WolfWords poetry anthology, which brings together poems from the entire Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çcommunity.

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Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çChampagne Credit Ian Olsson

Wolfson's 60th Birthday Party

27/06/2025 at 18.30

Come party like it's 1965 as we celebrate Wolfson's 60th birthday!

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Graphic for "Cambridge Zero Community Day" on 28 June 2025 from 10:00 to 20:30, with the tagline "Forging a Future for Our Planet" and descriptors "Innovative, Inclusive, Impactful."

Cambridge Zero Community Day

28/06/2025 at 10.00

Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege will showcase its commitment to Sustainability and Conservation and Green Impact by exhibiting a number of projects around the College at the Cambridge Zero Community Day.

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A large stone church with a tall spire and ornate Gothic-style windows stands on a grassy hill under a clear blue sky.

Thaxted Festival Mass

29/06/2025 at 11.00

Haydn’s delightful Little Organ Mass will be sung by Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çChamber Singers, accompanied by the historic Lincoln Organ played by Tom Williamson.

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