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Sibylle Herzig Van Wees

Postdoctoral researcher

About me

I am a social scientist and global health educator with degrees in Social Anthropology, Development Studies, Public Health and Pedagogy in Higher Education from UK Universities. I have worked on global health projects in Nepal, Mozambique, Somaliland, Cameroon and Ethiopia. I worked as a global health educator at King's College London and Uppsala University. My research interest lies in the area of health systems, health policy and the anthropology of global health research and practice. I am currently PI of a Forte funded project that investigates vaccine hesitancy in Sweden. I am also working on vaccine confidence topics in Ethiopia. I am part of the Health Systems and Policy group at KI.

Research description

I have completed my PhD in the area of Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. In my PhD research I applied a development anthropology framework to the study of global health initiatives that fund faith-based health programmes.

My current interest lies in exploring the nexus between belief systems (religion and rumours) and health initiatives and outcomes. I am working on understanding vaccine confidence and how to improve the dialogue between different belief models. I am also working on a gender and religion project in Ethiopia that aims to improve dialogue between contrasting world views. 

I am further interested in thinking about how we practice global health, in terms of assumptions and ideas that inform and shape research, teaching and practice. 

Teaching portfolio

  • 10 years of teaching experience at undergraduate and postgraduate level in global health from the UK and in Sweden.
  • Substantial experience teaching qualitative research methods at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
  • Introductory sessions to the politics of global health. 
  • Health Systems and Policy courses at King's College London and am a Distance Learning Tutor on the Health Policy and Planning Masters at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 
  • Supervised various Master thesis and I am currently a co-supervisor on three PhD projects based at Uppsala University. 
  • At KI I lead the Health Systems and Policy module delivered at LIME.

Education

  • PhD Development Studies at The School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)
  • Postgraduate Certificate, Academic Practice in Higher Education at King's College London
  • MSc Public Health in Developing Countries at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • BA (Hons.) Development Studies and Social Anthropology at The School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)