Tulsi Patel was a Professor in Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics before retiring. She was the Rotating Chair, India Studies at Heidelberg University, Germany in 2005-06. An Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Sociology, University of Manchester (2001–04), she has also undertaken teaching assignments at the London School of Economics and the Royal Holloway College of the University of London (1996–97). Professor Patel has previously taught at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and Miranda House (University of Delhi). Her areas of interest include gender, anthropology of fertility and reproduction, medical sociology, sociology of the family, and old age. Her books include Sex-Selective Abortion in India: Gender, Society and New Reproductive Technologies (published by Sage in 2007) and Fertility Behavior: Population and Society in a Rajasthan Village (published by OUP India in 1995).