Gabriela Ramos Bonilla
Gabriela is a Peruvian anthropologist and gerontologist, currently a Doctoral Researcher in Gerontology at the University of Southampton (UK), funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UKRI) through the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership. As a visiting researcher at GRADE, she is completing her doctoral thesis, which examines how structural and institutional barriers shaped older adults’ access to healthcare during the first waves of COVID-19 in Peru — the country with the world’s highest mortality rate. Her research shows that older adults’ vulnerability was not simply biological but structurally produced. It exposes how fragile health systems, age-blind policies, and medical ageism interacted during the crisis, advancing debates on equity and ageing in low- and middle-income countries.
Gabriela holds a Master’s degree in Gerontology from the University of Southampton (2019–2020, Chevening Scholar) and a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). She has university teaching experience and a strong background in qualitative and ethnographic research. Her previous work has explored the intersections between public policy and older people’s lived experiences in rural, urban, and Indigenous contexts across the Andes and the Amazon. She has collaborated with government agencies such as the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP), INABIF, and MIDIS, as well as with regional networks advocating for the rights of older adults. Her current interests include ageing, disability, care, and the structural dimensions of social exclusion in later life.
