Elene Gavashelishvili is assistant-professor in anthropology at Ilia State University. Her research interest focus on the social construction of gender and sexuality, the interrelationship of global medical opportunities and traditional local schemes, and lived religion. Elene is currently a member of the Doctoral Program in Social and Cultural Anthropology and lectures on different subjects in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology.

Elene holds her doctorate from the Department of Sociology at Ilia State University. Her PhD thesis “The Impact of Conflicting Discourses on Reproduction Practices of Georgian Women” looked at lived religion from the anthropological perspective. She has been involved in following research projects: ‘Infrastructure and Narratives: Black Sea Connections’ (2020-2021), ‘Religiosity among young Georgians’ (2015-2018), ‘Georgian National Identity: Conflict and Integration’ (2015-2016), ‘The Role of the Orthodox Church in the Formation of Georgian National Identity’ (2010-2012) and ‘The Study of Sexual Behavior in Georgia’ (2009-2011). In 2018 she published scientific article (in Anthropology of the Middle East, Berghahn Journals) showing that infertile women achieve desired results through negotiating between contradictory ideas and practices, focusing on the concept of “bricolage”. The upcoming article ‘Transient Togetherness in Batumi: Being Sailor's Wife’ will be published in 2022 in Berghan's collection ‘A Sea of ​​Transience: Poetics, Politics, and Aesthetics along the Black Sea Coast’. Currently, Elene is a supervisor of the research project: ‘Surrogacy as Networked Phenomenon: the study of key actors and their interrelations’ (2020-2023).