Maissa Al-Adhami

I am an affiliated researcher at the Equity and Health Policy group at the Department of Global Public Health where I am involved in the research program EMBRACE, (Embracing diversity in vulnerability - a multilevel intersectional study of communities' vulnerability and public health institutions' capability to cope with COVID-19 and future pandemics). 

At the central Professional Services, I work part-time as a coordinator for KIRI, the Karolinska Institutet Research Incubator. My role involves the coordination of different scientific activities and calls aimed at furthering interdisciplinary and innovative research within KI. The activities are centered around the KIRI community, currently consisting of 65 KIRI-fellows and 15 postdocs. Prior, I have fifteen years of work experience as a program manager and analyst in Karolinska Institutet in the field of international education, research collaboration and internationalization.

My PhD studies were within the field of public health and epidemiology, more specifically the health of refugee migrants in the early post-migration phase in Sweden. My current research includes topics such as migration and health, social determinants of health, health equity, and integration and policy discourses. My educational background is in social science and public health. I have a bachelor's degree in Oriental Studies from Uppsala University and a master’s degree in global health from Karolinska Institutet. At Uppsala University, I also studied civil law, national law and EU law.

I am currently involved in the research program EMBRACE, (Embracing diversity in vulnerability - a multilevel intersectional study of communities' vulnerability and public health institutions' capability to cope with COVID-19 and future pandemics). Together with colleagues from the department of Global Public Health at KI and the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Gothenburg University, we analyze the Swedish Covid-19 policies and response from an intersectional perspective.

I also participate in various research projects at the Department of Public Health and Care Sciences at Uppsala University, such as the evaluation of the program Together for a Safe Start, an extended home visiting program for first-time parents, carried out in vulnerable areas in four cities located in the central parts of Sweden.