Edoardo Pierini

Edoardo Pierini is a PhD candidate in history of medicine at the Institut Éthique Histoire Humanités (IEH2) of the University of Geneva.

Combining cultural and medical history, he would like to propose a new reading of the role of opiates in the early modern Europe by examining the theories, medical practice, and experiences elaborated by physicians in dealing with these dangerous substances. He works mainly on sources such as medical treatises, private recipes, letters, and travel literature. Edoardo has received the Santorio Fellowship for Medical Humanities and Science, the Vicent Peset Llorca Research Fellowship at the University of Valencia, and the Lisa Jardine Research Award of the Royal Society.

At the Science History Institute Edoardo will look into the context surrounding Angelo Sala’s (1576–1637) Opiologia. He intends to track shifts in alchemical practices of making dangerous drugs into safe medicaments from the 16th century to the second part of the 17th century.