Professor Oliver Razum at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Health Sciences leads Working Group 3 in Epidemiology & International Public Health. He serves on multiple commissions including the Faculty Conference and Teaching Commission, and contributes to the Center for Statistics and Bielefeld Center for Data Science. His work focuses on Epidemiology of migration and health Refugee health inequalities Medical rehabilitation equity Othering processes in public health Gender-sensitive health research Recent articles explore 2026 medical rehabilitation for people with disabilities, 2025 refugee mental health frameworks, and 2024 pandemic equity research. Key scientific contributions include the 2025 Georg Forster Fellowship and leadership in diversity-sensitive healthcare initiatives. His research spans urban neighborhood health effects , digital rehabilitation , and structural racism in healthcare . Current projects address intersectional inequalities , post-migration stress , and gender as social determinant . Professor Razum maintains active collaborations with institutions like the German Research Foundation and DRV Westphalia.
Beth St. Jean is an Associate Professor and Faculty Director of the Carillon Community in Health Justice at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies (College Park). She holds a PhD and MS in Information from the University of Michigan School of Information and a BA in Mathematics from Smith College. Her research focuses on improving health outcomes through understanding health-related information behaviors, health literacy, and self-efficacy. She co-authored Understanding Human Information Behavior (2021) and leads projects like HackHealth to enhance youth health literacy. Education: PhD in Information, University of Michigan School of Information (2012) MS in Information (LIS), University of Michigan School of Information (2006) BA in Mathematics, Smith College (1988) Research Interests: Health informatics, health justice, consumer health information behavior, health literacy, youth digital practices, and information literacy. Her work emphasizes addressing health disparities through information access and education. Recent Research Trends: Her publications explore topics like long-haulers’ information needs (2024), pandemic-era health justice (2023), and social media’s role in predicting health disparities (2022). She also investigates patient-generated health data challenges (2022) and library roles in promoting health equity (2020). Awards and Recognition: ASIS&T SIG-USE Innovation Award (2017) ACM SIGCHI Excellent Reviewer (2017) ALISE/LMC Paper Award (2015) Beta Phi Mu/LRRT Research Award (2014) Teaching and Grants: Teaches courses on information behavior, research methods, and consumer health informatics. Co-PI on grants like HackHealth 2.0 (NIH, $123K) and youth health literacy initiatives ($68.5K). Also serves as Assistant Director of the Information Policy & Access Center and Senior Fellow at CASCI. Labs and Initiatives: Leads the Carillon Community in Health Justice and collaborates on projects like the HackHealth after-school program to engage disadvantaged youth in health entrepreneurship.
Ada M. Fenick, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics (General Pediatrics) at Yale School of Medicine. She holds multiple leadership roles including Associate Director for Pediatrics in the Biopsychosocial Approach to Health clerkship, Medical Director of School-Based Health Centers, and Medical Director of the Medical-Legal Partnership Project. Her clinical practice focuses on economically disadvantaged pediatric populations, emphasizing developmental aspects of child health and addressing toxic stress impacts. Education: BS in Biomedical Sciences (University of Michigan, 1990), MD (University of Michigan, 1993), Pediatric Residency (Weill-Cornell/NY Medical Center, 1996) Research: Centers on pediatric primary care innovations such as group well-child care models, medical-legal partnerships, and obesity prevention. Key themes include health equity, social determinants of health, and curriculum development. Her recent work emphasizes leveraging medical student experiences to improve curricula addressing social drivers of health. Over 20 peer-reviewed publications since 2020 focus on topics like electronic phenotyping algorithms for obesity screening and frameworks for group pediatric care implementation. Awards: Includes Howard A Pearson MD Teaching Award (2013) and multiple institutional recognitions for clinical excellence and innovation. She leads initiatives like the Yale Primary Care Pediatrics Curriculum and collaborates with community organizations to enhance access to early intervention services for vulnerable children. Her work integrates clinical care, education, and policy advocacy to promote holistic child health outcomes.
Dr. David Goretzko is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Methodology and Statistics at Utrecht University's Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. He leads the Measurement and Machine Learning Lab and specializes in the integration of data science techniques with psychometric theory. His academic journey includes: Ph.D. in Psychological Methods from LMU Munich (2020) M.Sc. in Statistics from LMU Munich (2018) M.Sc. in Psychology from LMU Munich (2016) B.Sc. in Physics from LMU Munich (2015) B.Sc. in Psychology from LMU Munich (2014) Dr. Goretzko's research primarily focuses on the intersection of machine learning and psychometrics. His work addresses critical challenges in factor analysis, measurement invariance, and model fit assessment. He develops innovative methods that combine traditional psychometric approaches with modern data science techniques, particularly in the areas of exploratory factor analysis trees, regularized factor analysis, and cost-sensitive machine learning applications in psychological assessment. His research has significant implications for improving the validity and reliability of psychological measurements across diverse populations. His recent publications reveal a strong trend toward integrating machine learning methodologies with traditional psychometric approaches. A significant portion of his work focuses on factor analysis techniques, particularly addressing the challenge of determining the appropriate number of factors. His research also extensively covers measurement invariance testing across multiple covariates using tree-based approaches, and he has made notable contributions to evaluating model fit in confirmatory factor analysis. The interdisciplinary nature of his work spans psychology, statistics, and computer science. Dr. Goretzko serves as an Associate Editor for the European Journal of Psychological Assessment and is an active reviewer for numerous prestigious journals including Psychological Methods, Behavior Research Methods, and Structural Equation Modeling. He also reviews grant proposals for major funding agencies such as the German Research Foundation (DFG), National Science Foundation (NSF), and Dutch Research Council (NWO). He currently holds a Project Grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG GO 3499/1-1) since 2021. His research program focuses on developing and validating new methodologies for psychological assessment that incorporate machine learning techniques while maintaining psychometric rigor. His work has practical applications in educational measurement, clinical psychology, and organizational assessment. Dr. Goretzko leads the Measurement and Machine Learning Lab at Utrecht University, which focuses on developing innovative methodologies that bridge the gap between traditional psychometrics and modern data science. The lab's research has particular relevance for improving measurement practices in cross-cultural research, educational assessment, and clinical psychology settings where measurement invariance and factor structure validation are critical concerns.
Dr. Susana Castro-Kemp is an Associate Professor in Psychology and Human Development at University College London's Institute of Education (IOE), where she serves as Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education (CIE) since September 2023. Previously, she was a Reader in Education at the University of Roehampton for eight years. Her work focuses on inclusive education policy and practice globally, with particular expertise in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), early childhood intervention, and mental health in schools. The IOE has been ranked number one in the world for Education for several consecutive years, providing an ideal environment for her impactful research. Dr. Castro-Kemp holds a PhD in Psychology jointly awarded in 2012 by the University of Porto (Portugal) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA). Her doctoral research was fully funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology/European Commission and the Global Education and Development Studies scholarships. She is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, and a Recognised Research Supervisor by the UK Council for Graduate Education. Dr. Castro-Kemp's research centers on policy regulating education, health, and welfare services for children, particularly those with support needs. She examines inclusive education practices from users' perspectives, policy models leading to effective inclusive pedagogy, and country-level policy impacts on outcomes for children with special educational needs. Her work moves away from diagnostic labels toward engagement and civic participation as educational outcomes. She also investigates inclusion and early intervention in low- and middle-income countries, mental health in schools, and quality of early childhood education. Her recent publications reveal several key trends in inclusive education research. There's growing emphasis on understanding educational experiences through the voices of children and families rather than diagnostic labels. Much of her work examines the implementation gap between inclusive education policy and classroom practice. She has conducted significant research on how children with special educational needs experienced the pandemic, revealing both challenges and unexpected "silver linings" for some groups. Her corpus analysis of Ofsted reports shows narrow focus in early childhood education inspections, while her work on SEND policy increasingly takes an international comparative approach. Dr. Castro-Kemp has received recognition for her impactful work, including: Best Digital Humanities Project for Community Engagement Prize (2023) from the National Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences of South Africa for her project "Optimising collaborations and reducing inequalities of Early Childhood Intervention in post-Covid-19 South Africa" Dr. Castro-Kemp has secured approximately £1.3 million in research funding from various sources including ESRC, British Academy/Leverhulme Trust, European Commission, and private sponsors. Her current major project is 'ScopeSEND' (2024-2026), funded by the Nuffield Foundation (£250,000), examining international SEND policies. She has led numerous projects including "Transdisciplinary provision for children with disabilities in the Global South" (£3,500), "Optimising collaborations in South Africa" (£47,200), and "Froebel meets Ofsted" (£19,185). As a supervisor, she mentors MA/MSc and PhD students in education policy, early childhood, and inclusive education, having been nominated for student choice awards for excellent feedback and outstanding research supervision. As Director of the UCL Centre for Inclusive Education since 2023, Dr. Castro-Kemp leads a team focused on advancing knowledge exchange and research in inclusion and special needs. The Centre works with schools, educators, parents, and early years settings to translate research into practice. Her international collaborations include work with the World Health Organization as a technical advisor on the use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) system in educational contexts. She also serves on the SEN Policy Research Forum and has provided oral evidence to the House of Commons Education Select Committee.
Katherine Ornstein is a Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing with joint appointments in the Bloomberg School of Public Health's Department of Health Policy and Management, and the School of Medicine's Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. She directs the Center for Equity in Aging and is affiliated with multiple JHU aging-related centers. Her work focuses on improving healthcare equity for older adults with serious illness, home-based care delivery, dementia care, and end-of-life care. She holds a PhD in epidemiology from Columbia University. Her research, funded by NIH and CDC, explores caregiving burdens, homebound populations, and the economic impacts of healthcare on families. Notable recent work includes studies on dementia care outcomes, social isolation's health effects, and pandemic impacts on homebound older adults. Education: PhD in Epidemiology (Columbia University), MPH, BA Dr. Ornstein's awards include the 2024 Excellence in Research Mentoring and 2023 Isabel Hampton Robb Distinguished Scholar. She has advised numerous NIH-funded studies and collaborates across disciplines to address healthcare disparities in aging populations. Current projects examine rural-urban disparities in palliative care access, caregiver mental health, and leveraging big data to improve home-based care models. She leads efforts to define criteria for effective home-based primary care and reduce inequities in dementia care delivery.
Gerald Pruckner is a Professor at the Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), where he serves as Head of the Institute of Health Economics and Dean of the Kurt Rothschild School of Economics and Statistics (RoSES). His academic career spans over three decades with significant leadership roles including heading the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Aging, Health, and the Labor Market (2014-2021), and serving on the board of the Austrian Health Economics Association (ATHEA). He teaches multiple courses including Introductory Microeconomics, Empirical Economics, and Health Economics for the 2025W semester. Pruckner earned his PhD in Economics from the University of Linz in 1993. His academic journey began as an Assistant Professor at JKU (1989-2002), followed by a Professorship at the University of Innsbruck (2002-2006), then returning to JKU as Associate Professor (2006-2010) before his current Professorship (since 2011). He has held visiting positions at the University of Adelaide and UC Berkeley. His research focuses at the intersection of health economics, behavioral economics, and aging, examining healthcare systems, physician behavior, and the relationship between labor markets and health outcomes. Recent work investigates hospital crowding effects, gender differences in medical practice, chronic disease screening effectiveness, and child health services. His research consistently applies economic principles to understand healthcare delivery with emphasis on the Austrian context, often utilizing register data for evidence-based policy insights. Analysis of Pruckner's publication trends shows a sustained focus on practical healthcare issues with policy relevance. His work spans hospital management challenges, gender differences in medical practice, chronic disease screening effectiveness, and child health services. The research consistently bridges academic inquiry with practical health policy applications, with increasing attention to pandemic impacts and digital transformation in healthcare. Board member of Austrian Health Economics Association (ATHEA) since 2015 Member of Health Economics Committee (Verein für Socialpolitik) since 2013 Deputy head of national research network 'The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State' (2008-2013) Head of Christian Doppler Laboratory for Aging, Health, and the Labor Market (2014-2021) Pruckner actively mentors graduate students through dissertation colloquia and master's thesis supervision. His research portfolio includes 23 projects with significant funding, including current work on health services research in Upper Austria and empirical analysis of Linz healthcare provision. As Dean of RoSES and Head of the Health Economics Institute, he provides institutional leadership while maintaining an active research agenda with over 100 publications. He leads multiple research teams focused on health services research, with current projects examining healthcare provision in Linz, health indicators for the region, and broader health system analysis. His work bridges academic research and practical health policy applications through collaborations with regional health authorities and participation in professional associations.
Gulsah Akar is a Professor and Chair of the School of City & Regional Planning at Georgia Institute of Technology. She specializes in sustainable urban mobility, focusing on built environment-travel connections, equity, and new mobility technologies. Her research has been supported by grants from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Prior to Georgia Tech, she held a professorship at The Ohio State University (OSU), where she led the PhD Program in City and Regional Planning from 2015–2021 and served as Research Program Lead at OSU’s Sustainability Institute (2019–2021). Her research interests include transportation equity, multimodal travel behavior, and smart city technologies. She co-authored over 35 peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals, with recent work examining pandemic impacts on urban resilience, autonomous vehicle adoption, and aging populations’ travel patterns. Akar holds editorial roles, including former Editor of the Journal of Planning Literature (2015–2021), and actively contributes to Transportation Research Board committees. Educated at Middle East Technical University (B.Sc. and M.Sc.) and the University of Maryland (Ph.D.), her academic career bridges transportation engineering and urban planning. Key research trends in her publications focus on: 1) built environment interactions with travel behavior, 2) equity in mobility access, and 3) innovation in transportation systems. Her articles consistently analyze data from major U.S. cities like Columbus, Seattle, and New York.
Dr. Zhiying Ma is an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice , with faculty affiliations at the Center for East Asian Studies, Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, and Global Studies Program. She holds a joint PhD in Comparative Human Development and Anthropology from the University of Chicago and bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Philosophy from Peking University. Research Focus: Examines biopolitical paternalism in China's mental health governance Develops peer support systems for persons with serious mental illnesses Investigates intersections of disability rights, care ethics, and welfare systems Conducts ethnographic fieldwork in psychiatric hospitals and community teams Key Projects: Led a CBPR pilot project (2019-2021) to create peer support manuals in Guangzhou, and currently scales services in Guangzhou/Yunnan with Cyrus Tang Foundation support. Collaborated with the WHO on community mental health models. Scientific Recognition: 2021 Ford Global Fellow Published in SSM-Mental Health , Cultural Anthropology , and Disability Studies Quarterly Advocacy & Impact: Combines scholarship and activism , consulting for NGOs on disability livelihoods and gender equality. Collaborates with China's community mental health teams to improve service fidelity and client satisfaction.
Gary M. Shaw is the Rosemarie Hess Professor and Professor (Research) at Stanford University , with courtesy appointments in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health and Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology - Maternal Fetal Medicine . He serves as Co-PI of the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Stanford and PI of the California Center for Finding Causes and Preventives of Birth Defects . His research focuses on the Epidemiology of birth defects Gene-environment interactions in perinatal outcomes Nutritional factors in reproductive health . He has developed machine learning approaches for precision parenteral nutrition and predictive models for preterm birth, while investigating persistent metabolomic signatures following hypertensive pregnancy disorders. Shaw's recent work explores Climate change impacts on reproductive health Maternal-fetal immune interactions Epigenetic mechanisms in perinatal disease with applications of multiomics to neonatal intensive care units. As a member of Bio-X and the Maternal & Child Health Research Institute , he contributes to translational research networks while serving as Associate Editor for Birth Defects Research and American Journal of Medical Genetics . He supervises Med Scholar Project student Richard Liang Doctoral co-advisor for Saskia Comess and Richard Liang Master's advisor for Lenae Joe while leading the Division of Neonatology as Associate Chair for Clinical Research (2012-2025). His laboratory work integrates Metabolomic profiling Proteomic analysis Computational modeling Machine learning for biomedical data to advance neonatal care through precision medicine approaches.
David Wainwright is a Senior Lecturer in the Department for Health at the University of Bath, where he convenes the cross-faculty Work, Health and Wellbeing Research Group and serves as Director of Studies for Professional Doctorate in Health programmes. University of Bath, Department for Health Former affiliations: University of Kent (School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research), University of Bristol (Social Medicine Department, MRC Collaboration) Research Focus : Intersections of work, health, and wellbeing, emphasizing: Medicalization of occupational stress Extended working life and pension policy Psycho-social drivers of illness behavior Management of medically unexplained illnesses Recent Projects include: Behavior change interventions for extended working life (DWP-funded) Sickness certification for chronic pain Community-based support for intellectual disabilities Health seeking behavior among homeless populations Collaborations span healthcare policy, chronic pain research, and interdisciplinary studies with institutions like Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Trust and MRC Health Services Research Collaboration.
Anita Rauch is a Full Professor of Medical Genetics and Director of the Institute of Medical Genetics at the University of Zurich. Her research focuses on the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying severe neurodevelopmental disorders and hereditary breast cancer, utilizing genome sequencing and human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models. Current projects include: Genetic causes and molecular mechanisms in severe intellectual disability Praeclare (genetic variant clarification for prenatal medicine) SwissGenVar (clinical genetic variant interpretation platform) Hereditary breast cancer in Switzerland Her work is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). She leads a multidisciplinary team conducting functional studies on novel candidate genes (e.g., CYFIP2, TMEM94) and exploring genotype-phenotype correlations through iPSC-derived neuronal models. Key research trends in her publications include: Clinical trials for cancer therapies (colon, esophageal, pancreatic, breast) Pharmacogenetic determinants of chemotherapy toxicity Non-inferiority trial design methodology Genetic variant interpretation in personalized medicine She mentors PhD and Master’s students in medical genetics and contributes to the advancement of precision oncology and neurogenetics through translational research.
Associate Professor Richard Burns is a Senior Fellow at the Australian National University's National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, working within the Department of Health Economics, Wellbeing and Society. With a distinguished academic career spanning epidemiology and population health, he contributes significantly to global health research initiatives including the Global Burden of Disease Study. BMus (ANU) BA (CSU) PGDE (UC) MSc (Manchester) MBiostats (USyd) PhD (USQ) Professor Burns' research focuses primarily on mental health, wellbeing, and the global disease burden, with particular expertise in life expectancy, psychological wellbeing, and dementia. His work bridges epidemiological methods with practical applications for population health improvement. His research fingerprint shows strong concentration in mental health (100%), wellbeing (49%), global disease burden (47%), and life expectancy (25%). His recent publication record demonstrates remarkable productivity, with 112 research outputs including 18 publications in 2024 alone. These works span high-impact journals including The Lancet, The Lancet Neurology, and Genes, focusing on global health metrics, mental health services, cognitive function, and healthy aging across diverse populations. His research shows a clear trend toward interdisciplinary approaches combining epidemiology, neuroscience, and public health policy. Professor Burns has successfully secured multiple research projects, including the Internal Validation of Defence Wellbeing Measure (2023-2025), Mental Health Analysis and Modelling, and the Request for Quotation application: Defence Wellbeing Research Framework. He collaborates extensively with researchers across Australia and internationally. As a registered supervisor, Professor Burns mentors students in epidemiology and population health research. His laboratory work focuses on the PATH through Life Project and other longitudinal studies examining mental health trajectories across the lifespan. His team employs advanced statistical modeling and neuroimaging techniques to understand the complex interplay between biological, psychological, and social determinants of health.
Agar Brugiavini is a Full Professor at Ca' Foscari University of Venice's Department of Economics with significant institutional roles including Member of the Steering Committee of the Ca' Foscari International College, Ethics Committee member, and Coordinator of the Master's Degree Programme in Data Analytics for Business and Society. Her research focuses on: Economics of aging and retirement systems Social security policy evaluation Health economics and long-term care Labor market dynamics for older workers Impacts of demographic changes on social policies Her recent publications demonstrate strong emphasis on pandemic impacts on labor markets, social care systems, and elderly populations, with methodological approaches spanning econometric analysis of survey data and cross-national comparative studies. The research shows consistent focus on vulnerable populations and policy-relevant outcomes. Dr. Brugiavini maintains active research collaborations as evidenced by multi-country studies using SHARE survey data and participates in key academic leadership positions within her institution.
Kristin Long is an Associate Professor at Boston University and Director of the Child & Family Health Laboratory. She holds a PhD in Clinical and Biological-Health Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh (2012), completed postdoctoral training at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School, and joined BU in 2014. Her research focuses on the interplay between pediatric medical conditions, family dynamics, and cultural contexts, with emphasis on autism, cancer, intellectual disability, and asthma. Key areas include health disparities in autism care, psychosocial interventions for families, and sibling adjustment in chronic illness contexts. Education: PhD, Clinical and Biological-Health Psychology, University of Pittsburgh (2012) Clinical Internship & Postdoctoral Fellowship, Alpert Medical School of Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital Research interests: Family-cultural influences on child health outcomes Health equity in autism diagnosis/treatment Development of psychosocial interventions Cultural adaptations in healthcare delivery Her work has led to over 50 publications, emphasizing qualitative and mixed-methods approaches to understanding family experiences in pediatric chronic illness. Notable contributions include frameworks for sibling psychosocial care and culturally responsive interventions. Lab & Collaborations: Directs the Child & Family Health Lab, fostering community-academic partnerships to address unmet needs in pediatric healthcare. Active in developing nationwide standards for sibling psychosocial support in oncology care.
