Oscar Franco

I am a research assistant in the research group Global Disaster Medicine – Health Needs and Response at the Department of Global Public Health). My role focuses on searching for and finding suitable grants, develop funding search strategies for the research group, and then supporting the process of developing and submitting proposals. 

Originally from Colombia, I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and worked as a researcher and as a social psychologist in my home country. I have a Master's degree in Medical Sciences, with a major in Public Health Sciences from Karolinska Institutet, where I studied the Health Promotion and Prevention track. 

Before joining the team at KI, I worked at Universidad Javeriana on public health research projects focused on mental health, migration, digital health, phone based syndromic surveillance for COVID-19, and co‑design processes to promote vaccine uptake. I recently completed an internship at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in the Human Resources for Health Unit. During my internship, I contributed to work on global health governance, stakeholder engagement, interprofessional health education, and the strengthening of interprofessional health teams, among other technical cooperation activities.

My research interest revolves around global public health, health systems, policy analysis and digital health.

I have experience in desk-based, scoping, and systematic reviews, qualitative methods, and policy analysis. I also have solid knowledge of the UN humanitarian architecture.

Over the past five years I have conducted or supported research in health systems, migration studies, digital health, and mental health. I also have experience in both qualitative and quantitative research methods and analyses.