He holds a PhD in Social and Historical Anthropology from the École des hautes études en sciences sociales and his research interests focus on the history of the sciences and the Persianate culture of South Asia. He is the author of Soufisme, religion et médecine en islam indien (Paris, 2010) and Il Trattato aureo (Risāla al-dahabiyya) sulla medicina attribuito a l’imām ‘Alī al-Riḍā (Palermo, 2009), as well as the editor of Hospitals in Iran and India, 1500–1950s (Leiden and Boston, 2012), co-editor of Muslim Cultures in the Indo-Iranian World during the Early-Modern and Modern Periods (Berlin, 2010), and chief editor of Perso-Indica. He has also contributed articles to journals including Asiatische Studien, Journal Asiatique, and Studia Iranica. Professor Speziale has been a Fellow of the Shīʿah Institute since January 2016.