Highlights from the ‘Building back better after COVID-19: The research agenda’ launch event
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Health equity
Research suggests that social determinants can influence 30-55% of health outcomes, often outweighing healthcare or lifestyle choices. Key social determinants of health range from income and social protection to education, food insecurity and access to affordable healthcare.
George People | Yang Zhao (William) Won 2020 CHPAMS Rising Scholar Best Paper Award
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Brain Health program secures MRFF grant to trial intergenerational study in mild cognitive impairment
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Maarinke van der Meulen
Profile
Maarinke is the Program Lead for the Global Thought Leadership Program, in the Impact and Engagement team. She is an innovation specialist, translating research insights for different audiences into a range of formats and complimenting advocacy efforts on preventable disease and injury. Maarinke is particularly interested in finding links between silos, working across specialisations, and connecting people and ideas, joining skills and expertise to deliver strong outcomes.
Maarinke joined the George Institute in 2018, establishing activities such as data visualisation, interactive stories and podcasts. Since then, Maarinke has further developed The Global Thought Leadership program, designing the Emerging Thought Leader Program - a 6 month capacity strengthening program to train and coach early-mid career researchers and subject matter experts- as well as the Distinguished Fellow Program, engaging and collaborating on thought leadership activities with a network of renowned experts around the globe.
Prior to working at The George Institute, Maarinke worked in other technical industries, including medicines education, insurance, finance and IT. Maarinke has a Masters in International Law and International Relations, Graduate Certificate in Health Policy and Health Communications, and a Bachelor of Business with double major in Marketing and Management.
Blog: How do we build the world we want? Social participation for Universal Health Coverage
News / Profile story
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Neena Joshi
Profile
Neena Joshi is a Senior Project Manager at The George Institute for Global Health. She leads the Social Participation for Health, Engagement, Research and Empowerment (SPHERE) consortium, which brings together civil society, health and academic organizations providing support for social participation and community action for health in and around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Neena is a global health professional with over five years of experience working at international organizations, think tanks and in academia.
Neena was previously part of the UHC2030 Secretariat, and she has a strong background in multilateral engagement and global health research. Neena holds a Master of Science in Global Health from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and is originally from Chicago, Illinois. She is currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Maddie Heenan
Profile
Dr Maddie Heenan is a public health researcher, program manager and policy expert. She is a Project Manager in the Health Systems Science division at The George Institute for Global Health and an Associate of the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW. Maddie brings extensive experience in health systems research, program management, strategy development, partnerships and stakeholder engagement, knowledge translation and strategic communication.
Her research interests include public health governance and regulation, policy development and implementation, research–policy partnerships, political economy, food and alcohol policy, and the commercial and social determinants of health. She also has expertise in qualitative evaluation and applied policy research.
Maddie has worked closely with government through policy dialogues, co design processes and commissioned research projects. She has served as an independent evaluator and provided advisory support across a range of public health and policy initiatives. An experienced facilitator, public speaker and negotiator, her career spans academia, policy, advocacy, government relations and program delivery.
Women's health
50%greater likelihood of women being misdiagnosed after a heart attack than meni
18M+Women die from non-communicable diseases globally each yearii
80%more women affected by neurological disorders than meniii
44%higher stroke risk for diabetic women than meniv
* Read statistics sources
I. Wu, J, Gale CP, Hall M, et al. 2018. Impact of initial hospital diagnosis on mortalityfor acute myocardial infarction: A national cohort study. Eur Heart J Acute Cardiovasc Care. 2018;7(2):139-148 doi: 10.1177/2048872616661693.II. Hyun, K., et al., 2017. Gender inequalities in cardiovascular risk factor assessment and management in primary healthcare. Heart, 103, pp.492-498. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2016- 310216.III. World Health Organization. Mortality and global health estimates. [online] Available at: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates.IV. Peters, S.A.E., Huxley, R.R. and Woodward, M., 2014. Diabetes as a risk factor for stroke in women com
Using pregnancy to improve women’s lifelong health
By utilising a life-course approach to the prevention of non-communicable diseases, when women are screened during pregnancy.
The physiological changes in a woman’s body during pregnancy to support fetal growth and wellbeing and prepare for labour and birth have been compared to a nine-month marathon that finishes with a sprint. For some women, this pregnancy “stress test” will result in medical complications of pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes (“GDM”, affecting approximately 1 in 7 pregnancies globally), high blood pressure disorders (affecting up to 1 in 10 pregnancies globally) and anaemia (10-40%). Existing mental and physical health conditions may also worsen.
The course of a woman’s pregnancy also gives a window into a woman’s future health, as the effect of pregnancy complications on mother and child do not end with the pregnancy. For example, after hypertensive pregnancy there is at least doubled risk of cardiovascular disease (beginning within 5-10 years of
Improve outcomes for women specific conditions globally
Globally efforts to improve women’s health largely focus on maternal health, overlooking women’s health needs beyond pregnancy and childbirth. The weight given to the maternal health outcome neglects the full range of women’s health. Diseases that affect women are substantially under-studied and under resourced. Gynaecological cancers and conditions like endometriosis, uterine fibroids, poly cystic syndrome, and cervical cancers might have been better understood if they also affected men. Since these are women-specific health issues that affect a woman’s quality of life across her lifespan, there has been little investment, particularly in low-and middle-income countries, to improve early diagnosis and treatment. For example, approximately 180 women globally with endometriosis remain undiagnosed and suffer from its symptoms like pain and infertility for almost seven years before getting diagnosed. Hence, more research and concerted action is needed to improve women’s health and to ensure tha