Three new research groups at GPH
On 1 October, there was a change in Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg's research group Health Systems and Policy, (HSP). Three of the teams in HSP will now become their own research groups following a joint decision by the department management. The new groups are led by Claudia Hansson, Tobias Alfven, and Johan von Schreeb.
The new research groups include Claudia Hansson's group IMPAQT, Tobias Alfven's group Global Child Health and the Sustainable Development Goals, and Johan von Schreeb’ s group, which has also been given a new name - Global Disasters Medicine - Health Needs and Response
In addition to the new research groups, there is a new team in Cecilia's group, No Accidents: Improving Trauma Systems, led by Martin Gerdin Wärnberg. Another change is that the former research group Social Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Migration (SIM), led by Knut Lönnroth, has been reformed into a team in Tobias Alfven's new research group.
To get to know the new research groups more, we asked the research group leaders a few questions.
Implementation and Quality (IMPAQT)
Research group leader: Claudia Hanson
What kind of vision do you have for your new research group?
We want to continue to do relevant implementation science and health systems research to improve quality-of-care, responsiveness and health communication. We do trials and process evaluations to produce solid evidence around interventions. Close collaboration with partner institutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America and co-design with end-users is central as well as strong links to MSc education and PhD capacity building.
Is there something you want to develop now that you are a research group?
The new group comes at a time when I also move to Kenya, so a lot will be new. I very much hope many new projects will develop to support strong joint research work, education and capacity building.
What is the single best thing about your group?
Diversity: Our members come from 14 countries; and we have a large diversity of disciplinary backgrounds in the group. We live in different countries, Sibylle in Ethiopia, Tim in Tanzania and I am about to move to Kenya.
If your research group were a theme song, what song would it be?
We are still thinking of the song “Think” Aretha Franklin" What this song symbols: First, “Think a bit why we did choose this song, second, we hope that everyone can see that we aim to move towards making the world a better place in many regards.
Global Child Health and the Sustainable Development Goals
Research group leader: Tobias Alfvén
What is your vision for your new research group?
Our vision is the best possible health for all children, and with a special focus on children in poor and vulnerable environments.
Is there something you want to develop now that you are a research group?
There is clearly a lot we want to strengthen and work on in the group. Among other things, we want to strengthen the we-feeling in the group so that we can work together to make our work even better, and at the same time work even more with other research groups at the department.
What is the single best thing about your group?
Fantastic colleagues, who do a fantastic job and at the same time we have fun together
If your research group were a song, what would it be?
Oh, what a good question, we'll bring this up at our next research group meeting, we might even come up with a joint playlist, but if we're going to take a song right now, it has to be "Here comes the sun" by the Beatles
Global Disasters Medicine - Health Needs and Response
Research group leader: Johan von Schreeb
What is your vision for your new research group?
Our vision remains the same: improve and strengthen both the Swedish and international medical responses to major disasters, and to do so by way of research, teaching, utilising experience from fieldwork and by engaging in policy-dialogue.
Is there something you want to develop now that you are a research group?
We will continue to act in an advisory role to the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen), as a centre for research (kunskapscentrum), hence our previous name, but what we do has always been much broader than that. We will continue to develop our research in the field, and always look for inter-disciplinary collaborations. Our Erasmus Mundus Master programme has just been renewed for another five years, and that will involve certain changes to the structure of the programme, which we are currently working on. We also look forward to re-launching our executive course Health Assistance in Humanitarian Crisis, in collaboration with the Centre for Health Crises and Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) Sweden.
What is the single best thing about your group?
The best thing about our group is our ability to do research and teaching while at the same time always maintaining a close connection to fieldwork in disasters. Remaining connected to work “on the ground” in disasters is vital for us. It is the basis on which we build our research, and we it influences our teaching. In our opinion, it is the key to being relevant and useful in what we do.
If your research group were a song, what would it be?
When we started talking about this in the group we had so many ideas and suggestions that in the end we put together an entire playlist of songs that we think relates to us and the topic of disaster medicine, some more serious and others as a bit of a joke. Feel free to listen to our playlist on Spotify! (For our non-Swedish speaking colleagues at the department, the name of the playlist is a wordplay on the Swedish word for disaster – katastrof, the first bit “katt”, is Swedish for “cat” and the second bit “strof” – is the Swedish word for a line in a song)