project team
An interdisciplinary and international team conducting research in constant exchange and collaboration across the five country groups Germany, Romania, Netherlands, China and South Africa.
Team South Africa
Asithandile Nozewu
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Dr. Asithandile Nozewu has a background in African Languages, but holds a PhD in General Linguistics from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. The focus of her PhD research was on linguistic repertoires, language ideologies and language practices of three isiXhosa (one of the 12 official languages in South Africa) families in Cape Town, South Africa. She is currently a Postdoctoral research fellow at Stellenbosch University.
Rowan Madzamba
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Dr Rowan Madzamba holds a Phd in Public Health and is a Research fellow in the Psychology department at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Dr. Rowan has participated, written and published research focusing on Public health, Demography and population studies. He is an advocate of migrant health and human rights. Dr Rowan Madzamba is also the former vice president of the Population Association of Southern Africa and has worked as a Lecturer, Research assistant and a Post graduate assistant, and teaching assistant at the University of KwaZulu Natal.
Warona Mateane
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Department of Psychology
Warona is a dedicated and curious Research Psychology Intern in the Psychology Department at Stellenbosch University. She is finalizing her Masters mini thesis that is focused on food insecurity and mental health. Her participation in this study aligns with her interdisciplinary approach to research, which aims to offer solution-based interventions to holistic health and wellbeing.
Christine Anthonissen
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Department of General Linguistics
Prof. Dr. Christine Anthonissen, Department of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University; freelance translator and editor. Her research focuses on Discourse Studies, Critical Discourse Analysis and Sociolinguistic aspects of Bilingualism and Multilingualism. This includes attention to language planning and policy, as well as language practices in diverse multilingual communities such as are typical in African countries and urban spaces with large mobile communities. Related to this project, she has published on multilingual communication in health care in state clinics in southern Africa.
Leslie Swartz
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Department of Psychology
Leslie Swartz is a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He holds a PhD in Psychology from University of Cape Town and a PhD in English from Stellenbosch University. He is editor-in-chief of the South African Journal of Science and of the Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research. He is an internationally rated scientist and publishes widely on issues of mental health, disability, access and social justice, with an emphasis on African issues.
Team China
Andrian Liem
Monash University Malaysia
Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Andrian Liem is a Research Fellow at the public health cluster, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia. He earned his PhD from the School of Psychology, the University of Queensland, Australia. His research interests include clinical and health psychology, cultural psychology, social justice and health equity, and global mental health.
Brian Hall
New York University Shanghai, China
Brian J. Hall is a Professor of Global Public Health and the Founding Director of the Center for Global Health Equity at NYU Shanghai. He also holds appointments as an Associated Full Professor at the School of Global Public Health, New York University, and an Associate Faculty Member in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Prof. Hall’s research agenda addresses diverse population health inequalities (mental health, behavioral addiction, and sexual health) among migrants and minoritized or at-risk communities. He led the first large-scale mixed-methods study of transnational Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers. He is currently trialing culturally adapted and scalable digital mental health interventions.
Timothy Sumerlin
New York University Shanghai, China
Tim is a postdoctoral fellow in The Center for Global Health Equity at NYU Shanghai. In 2024, he completed his PhD in Public Health at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His current research interests include social epidemiology, global health, and migrant mental health.
Team Netherlands
Houda Al-Kalaf
Utrecht University, Netherlands
Houda Al-Kalaf is a PhD candidate at Utrecht University. Her research areas include intercultural communication, linguistics, diversity and inclusion in relation to refugees and migrants. She is a member of Utrecht University's Intercultural Communication research group.
Barbara Schouten
University of Amsterdam
Department of Communication Sciences
Barbara Schouten works as an Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam, dept. of Communication Science. Her research focuses on mitigating cultural and language-related barriers in healthcare by means of innovative communication strategies.
Christopher Jenks
Utrecht University, Netherlands
A discourse analyst and intercultural communication scholar. He is a professor and chair of intercultural communication at Utrecht University. His work experiences span countries like the US, UK, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Denmark. He has authored 10 books, with 2 more due in 2024. His extensive publication history covers diverse subjects in international journals, from family mediation to computer-mediated communication.
Ted Sanders
Utrecht University, Netherlands
Department of Languages, Literature and Communication
Ted Sanders is a full professor of Discourse studies at the Dept of Languages, literature and communication of the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
In his research, which is embedded in the program of the Institute for Language Sciences (ILS), he focuses on coherence in text, discourse, and cognition. He uses various research methods, at the interface of linguistics and social sciences. He has a keen interest in comprehensibility in language and communication.
Team Romania
Alina Forray
Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania
Department of Public Health
Alina-Ioana Forray, MD, PhD(c) has a diverse public health background which includes a focus on healthcare workforce development, health innovation, public health nutrition, mental health, women's health, and migrants' health. Throughout her activities at various higher education institutions and healthcare settings in Romania, Alina has gained valuable experience in research, management, and educational activities related to public health and the unique national healthcare challenges.
Ovidiu Oltean
Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania
Department of Political Science
Ovidiu Oltean, Ph.D., works as a teaching assistant in the Political Science department at Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. He has a Ph.D. thesis focusing on migration's impact on multiethnic communities in Romania, and his research activity extends to research projects exploring structural discrimination and migration and the impact of migration on development and social change.
Mirabela-Ioana Istrate
Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania
Department of Public Health
Mirabela-Ioana Istrate is a Ph.D. student within the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Political Sciences, Public Administration and Communication at the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, works as a Human Resources Administrator at the Human Resources Department of the University and represents the Romanian Project Project Manager of the MiM2M project. Her research focuses on the second victim phenomenon, adverse events – causes, effects, coping strategies, and human resources in healthcare.
Răzvan Cherecheș
Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania
Department of Public Health
Răzvan Cherecheș, MD, Ph.D, is a University Professor of Public Health within the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Political Sciences, Public Administration and Communication, and the Romanian Scientific Project Manager of the MiM2M project. He is the director of the Center for Health Innovation HIVE and the speakers' coach at TEDxCluj.
Team Germany
Annika Kreienbrinck
University Medical Center Hamburg
Department of Medical Psychology
Annika Kreienbrinck is an epidemiologist (M.Sc.), PhD candidate and research associate at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany with a background in emergency medicine and health sciences. Her research focuses on global (mental) health, especially in relation to equitable access to health services. Her PhD project investigates multilingualism in the provision of quality mental health care, with a focus on technological tools.
Saskia Hanft-Robert
(Project coordinator)
University Medical Center Hamburg
Department of Medical Psychology
Saskia is a psychologist (M.Sc.), psychotherapist in training, research associate and PhD candidate at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany. Her research focuses on global mental health issues; diversity and equity in (mental) healthcare and healthcare education; language diversity and interpreting in (mental) health care settings. She also works as a lecturer for medical and psychology students.
Mike Mösko (PI)
University Medical Center Hamburg
Department of Medical Psychology
Mike Mösko is a psychotherapist and professor for clinical psychology at the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences and Head of the Research Group on Migration and Psychosocial Health at the Department of Medical Psychology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. His research fields of interest are cultural competence in health care, multilingualism in healthcare and integration of qualified interpreters into health care. He is also founder of the interdisciplinary European research network on “multilingualism in healthcare”.
project partners
International Advisory Board
Regional Stakeholder Board
South Africa
Prof. Bonginkosi Chiliza
President of the Society of Psychiatrist of South Africa
Prof. Garth Stevens
President of the Psychological Society of South Africa
People's Health Movement South Africa
African Centre for Migration & Society
Romania
Gabriel Leu
Communication Officer,
UNHCR
Toma Burean
Romanian Center for Comparative Migration Studies
Ana Ludusan
League for Defence of Human Rights
League for Defence of Human Rights, Cluj Branch
China
Agnes Iok Fong Lam
Director, Centre for Macau Studies
Yosa Wariyanti
Indonesian Migrant Workers Union
Netherlands
Luke Korlaar
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Esther ten Doeschot
Global Talk
Dr. Els Rommes
Radbout University
Simone Goosen
Patiëntenfederatie Nederland
Dr. Tessa Magnée
Praktijk Ondersteuner Huisarts Geestelijke Gezondheidszorgud
Germany
Aicha El-Saleh
President, Freie Deutsch-Syrische Gesellschaft e.V.
Murat Kaplan
President, Turkish Community Hamburg
Ricarda Müller
Chamber of Psychotherapists Hamburg
Sylviana Gerlich
President, Africa Migrant Organisation, INIC
Dr.med. Hassan Ied
Freie Deutsch-Syrische Gesellschaft e.V.