João Guilherme Biehl is a Brazilian medical anthropologist known for his innovative studies of global health, poverty, and suffering.
[5] Biehl grew up in the favelas outside of the town of Novo Hamburgo in Southern Brazil after migrating from the colonial interior with his parents and sister at the age of 4.
He cites his passion for storytelling as stemming from receiving books for Christmas as a child, a rare commodity for poor families in the favelas.
João Biehl has been a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (2002–03 and 2005–06); and a visiting professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris (2004).
Biehl was an Academic Adviser at Wilson College from 2004 to 2007, and has taught more than 20 undergraduate and graduate classes at Princeton since joining the faculty.
He has also written 4 books in Portuguese: "Entre as Montanhas" ("Between the Mountains") (Literalis, 2004), "Clandestino: No Cotidiano e na Teologia" ("Clandestine: Theology and Ordinary Life ") (Vozes/Sinodal, 1990), "Igual pra Igual: Um Diálogo Crítico entre a Teologia da Libertação e as Teologias Negra, Feminista e Pacifista" ("From Equal to Equal: A Critical Dialogue between Latin American Liberation Theology and Black, Feminist and Pacifist Theologies") (Vozes/Sinodal, 1987) and "Tudo a Ver: Uma Viagem Sem Roteiros pela América do Sul" ("All to See: A Journey through South America") (Sinodal, 1987.)