Global health seminar - Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Global health seminars, Spring 2023
All seminars are free and open for all.
There will be time for discussion and questions after the presentations.
Light refreshments will be served, when we meet in-person.
Wednesday 1st February at 2:00 - 3:00pm
Topic: Assessing the access to health care in Malawi
Thomas Halvorsen Associate Professor at the Department of Geography, NTNU.
About the project
Malawi has one of the most underserved health service populations in the world with chronic resource shortages and long travel distances where people with disabilities are at a particular disadvantage.
The primary aim of this study was to determine which health care barriers were most important for people with disabilities in Malawi.
results show that even in a resource scarce society such as Malawi it is the interpersonal relationships between patients and health service providers that has the largest impact on the perception of access among patients.
Topic:
Inclusive Hearing Care for School Children in Tanzania and Ethiopia
Tron Vedul Tronstad, he has worked at the Acoustic group at SINTEF since 2008. Since then, he has worked on a lot of different projects, but the governing idea has always been hearing. Since 2022 he has been an adjunct associate professor at NTNU (The Norwegian University of Science and Technology) at the acoustics group at the Department of Electronic Systems.
About the project
The majority of children with hearing impairment live in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and most of the children remain undiagnosed, untreated and without the provision of adequate services and devices.
The project objectives are to develop: 
- Innovative screening tools and hearing devices for local school settings in low-resourced communities
- Sustainable models for community-based hearing services
- Training programs for schoolteachers and clinicians
Place: Fred Kavli Building, MTS11, 1st Floor, Campus Øya
Wednesday 1st March at 2:00 - 3:00 pm
Topic: Militarization of childhood in urban Brazil
This project examine how drug trafficking and armed violence militarizes the everyday lives of young residents in a deprived community in urban Brazil. The overall aim is to explore whether, and how, children and youth who are not involved in the drug trade are influenced by, engage with, and respond to militarist rationalities and manifestations. In addition, it frames militarization as resting upon and reinforcing structural inequalities.
Marit Ursin is a professor in interdisciplinary child and youth research at the Department of Education and Lifelong Learning. She leads the interdisciplinary research group Worldviews, which explores the encounter of children, young people and families with hegemonic, normative and taken-for-granted value sets, worldviews and knowledge systems.
Topic: Exploring severe mental illness in northern Tanzania
The presentation investigates some of the complexities of how severe mental illness or schizophrenia is conceptualized (locally) – including the most common causes or etiologies attributed to severe mental illness. Based on some cases, narrated by the afflicted him or herself, the presentation further discusses some of the findings with a focus on how they experience treatment, loss of belonging and social dignity.
Liv Haram, before she joined the Department of Anthropology at NTNU in 2007, she held research and teaching positions at the University of Bergen and at the Nordic Institute of Africa in Sweden. Her research projects have mainly taken place in rural areas in northern Tanzania, with the exception of MPhil/Cand Polit. from Botswana.
Place: Fred Kavli building, MTS11, 1st Floor, campus Øya
Wednedsay 29th March at 2:00 - 3:00 pm
Topic: Global Occupational Health: A Perspective from The Norwegian Labour Inspection 
Authority
Dr. Yogindra Samant,will provide a short introduction to labour inspection in Norway and how Occupational Safety Health supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. He is the chief adviser and a medical officer for international occupational health at the labour inspection. He will speak about Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority’s involvement in Occupational Health initiatives and tasks at the Nordic, European and global levels. Dr Samant will conclude with possibilities for collaboration between the global health students and faculty at NTNU and Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority.
Topic: Occupational injuries in fishing,farming and forestry in Southeast Asia, Australia and selected European coastal countries
This study aimed to describing national statistics on fatal and non-fatal occupational accidents from International labour organization on occupational injuries in fishing, farming and forestry in Southeast Asia (Malaysia and Philippines), Australia and selected European coastal countries (France, Spain, United Kingdom and Norway)
Mahshad Nazari is a master student of Global Health at the University of Bergen.
Place: MTS21, Fred Kavli Building, Campus Øya
Wednesday 3rd May at 2:00 - 3:00 pm
Topic 1: Long term sustainable collaboration between Kathmandu University, School of Medical Sciences / Dhulikhel Hospital and NTNU, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
We have guest from Nepal and they will give a presentation of Dhulikhel Hospital/KUSMS and their activities by Dr. Ram Shrestha (Executive Director) and Biraj Karmacharya
by Petter Waarum and Jonas Haugstad Moosmayer, 5th year medicine students at NTNU.
Place: Fred Kavli Building, MTS11, campus Øya
Wednesday 7th June at 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Topic: Collaboration with Zambia
Speaker: Anitha Menon is a Professor of Psychology at University of Zambia with leadership experience in the corporate and education sector.
Knut Hestad, Prof. Emeritus from department of psycology at NTNU
Place: MTS11, Fred Kavli Building, campus Øya
Previous Global Health Seminars
Thursday 27th January at 1:00 - 2:00pm
Birgit Engesæter, Advisor at Kreftregisteret, has a central role in monitoring the cervical cancer screening program in Norway in consultation with experts.
Emily Annika Burger, Associate professor at the Department of Health Management and Health Economic (UiO), has a significant role in informing the current US cervical cancer guidelines, global policy for World Health Organization, and national cancer control policies in Norway.
Kine Pedersen (Ph.D.) is a health economist at Oslo Economics and a researcher at the Department of Health Management and Health Economics (UiO) with expertise in health economic evaluation and cervical cancer prevention.
Place: Webinar
Thursday 24th February at 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Impact on mental health of the population
Our speakers:
Topic: “Introduction of Global Mental Health”
Ragnhild Dybdahl, Program Director at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, is a psychologist by background and holds a PhD from the University of Tromsø. She is also an associate professor of global mental health at the Centre for Crisis Psychology at the University of Bergen. Previously, she has been an aid worker, clinician, bureaucrat, and diplomat. She has worked in international development cooperation for many years and is particularly interested in mental health in and following disasters and conflict, psychosocial interventions, and early childhood development.
Topic: “Antidepressives or Love: Mental health among children living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda”
Birthe Loa Knizek, Specialist Clinical Psychologist and Professor at NTNU, has a PhD from Århus University, Denmark. Since 2000 she has research collaboration with Uganda and Ghana, especially focusing on suicidal behaviour. During the last years, collaboration with Uganda on different mental health issues has become more prominent, especially targeting people living with HIV/AIDS and mental problems.
Place: Fred Kavli building, MTM22, 2nd Floor
Thursday 31st March at 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Topic: “Intimate partner violence against women: the silence remains”
Speaker:
Lara Murvartian is a General Health Psychologist and a PhD candidate at the University of Seville, beneficiary of a University Teacher Training grant from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. Her research career has focused on the stigma experienced by vulnerable groups, starting with severe mental disorders. She has participated in several research projects about gender equality, recovery and health promotion. She is currently working on her doctoral thesis on public stigma exerted by professionals who provide services to women survivors of intimate partner violence. She is interested in analyzing this stigma and identifying actions to combat it.
Place: Øya Helsehus, ØHU1, 2nd Floor
Tuesday 24th May at 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Topic: Global Health Diplomacy
Our speakers
Virginaia Kotzias is an American health policy researcher with experience in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. She is currently pursuing a PhD on the topic, "Economic shocks, social protection policies, and infant health" located in the Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN) at the NTNU Department of Sociology and Political Science. Prior to NTNU, Ms. Kotzias was a health policy analyst at the RAND Corporation and conducted mixed-methods research across a range of public health topics, including health services research, telehealth, long term care, maternal/child health, and suicide. She is trained in qualitative methods and has extensive experience in the design and implementation interview, focus group, and survey-based research projects. Prior to RAND, she served as a policy analyst for a health care quality research firm and as a state program administrator for Maryland Medicaid. She earned her Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) in 2012 from the University of Maryland College Park, USA.
Topic: "Health Policy Analysis: A Primer from the Perspective of a Practitioner"
Knut Mork Skagen from Norwegian Doctors against Nuclear Weapon. Knut Mork Skagen is a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry at Levanger Hospital. He works to increase doctors' engagement on political issues which impact public health, particularly nuclear disarmament and climate change. He is currently deputy leader of the board of Norwegian Physicians against Nuclear Weapons.
Topic: "Creating a world free of Nuclear Weapons: role of public health practitioners"
Place: Fred Kavli building, MTS21 , 2nd Floor
Thursday 16th June at 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Topic: Substance abuse
Speaker: xx (tbc)
Place: Fred Kavli building, MTM22, 2nd Floor