Thomas Abel

Thomas Abel is Professor for Health Research at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Bern, Switzerland ( http://www.ispm.unibe.ch/ ). A Medical Sociologist with a focus on structure-agency perspectives, his major research program addresses issues of social stratification and inequalities in health and health behaviours.

Prior to his appointment in Bern he was Professor for Public Health and Epidemiology, Dep. of Medicine at the Ludwig-Maximillians-University, Munich, FRG (1993 – 95), Lecturer and Research Assistant in Medical Sociology, Dep. of Medicine at the Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany (1986 – 93) and Teaching and Research Assistant, Dep. of Sociology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA (1984 – 86). His academic degrees include a Habilitation at Philipps-University in Marburg (Dep. of Medicine, 1993), a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (Dep. of Sociology) in 1989, a Master’s (1980) and a Dr.phil. (1984) degree from the Justus Liebig-University in Giessen (Dep. of Sports Science). He has been a visiting Professor at Univ. de Montreal in 2005 (Dép. de médicine sociale et préventive) and at UBC Vancouver in 2012 (Dep. of Sociology) and visiting researcher at Stanford University in 2019.

Thomas Abel has published widely on theoretical and empirical challenges in social science applied in Public Health   http://www.ispm.unibe.ch/about_us/staff/abel_thomas/index_eng.html#pane129400

As Editor-in-Chief he has led the International Journal of Public Health from 2000 until 2011. He has also served as reviewer and advisor for major national and international research institutions and funding agencies.