Bruno Marchal

Bruno Marchal is a Professor and Head of the Complexity and Health Unit at the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp (ITM), Belgium. He holds an adjunct faculty position at the Institute of Public Health since 2017. His academic background includes an MD from ITM, a Master in Public Health (MPH), and a PhD focused on hospital management practices in Ghana and Tanzania, titled Why do some hospitals perform better than others? A realist evaluation.

• Department: Public Health
• University: Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
• Key Roles: Course Director of ITM’s Master in Public Health, supervising PhD candidates at ITM and University of the Western Cape (UWC).

Research Interests: Urban health systems, climate change adaptation in health systems, health system resilience, and realist evaluation methodologies. Current projects include studies on urban health governance in Antwerp and Lima, resilience frameworks in Mauritania and Thailand, and climate crisis adaptation in Benin. His methodological focus is on theory-driven inquiry, particularly realist evaluation, applied in projects like the EU-funded ALERT initiative in sub-Saharan Africa.

Recent Articles Highlight Key Themes: Maternal health reviews in Benin, regional health department challenges in Mauritania, and leadership innovations in South African health districts. His work emphasizes systemic approaches to health equity and policy implementation.

• Grants & Projects: Includes funding from WHO, Belgian Development Agency, Fondation Botnar, and Research Fund – Flanders for initiatives like Grounding Ethics in Climate Change Health Research and resilience studies in Mali/Benin.
• Advising: Supervised 8 PhD candidates, including studies on resilience in Thailand, Benin maternal mortality, and Congolese health directorates.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Complexity and Health unit, collaborating with global networks on urban health and climate resilience. Active in interdisciplinary research with institutions like Ecole de Hautes Etudes de Santé Publique (France).