Graduate Research Assistant (2016)
Alan Elbaum
Alan is a first-year medical student at the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program. While at Berkeley, he is working toward a master’s degree in the history of medicine, using manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah. More broadly, he is interested in the literature and culture of the Jews of Arab lands; historical perspectives on medicine and the social determinants of health; and how insights from the past can guide the way medicine is practiced today. His project at the Magnes is based on the collection of Egyptian Karaite and Rabbanite manuscripts that were recently cataloged by Dr. Lisa Wurtele.
Before moving to the bay area, Alan received a BA in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Yale College in 2014, and he spent the year between college and medical school working at AlManarah, a disability advocacy organization in Nazareth (Israel).