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The Critical Global Health Network is a UCL-wide network led by early career researchers who are concerned with critical global health and decolonisation.
The Critical Global Health Network
Jointly hosted by the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences – Health, Mind and Society and Institute for Advanced Studies, the Critical Global Health Network is a pan-UCL network led by early career researchers (ERCs).
What is Critical Global Health?
Researchers at UCL are engaged in a range of novel work that falls under the broad umbrella of critical global health. Recognising what constitutes critical global health is an ongoing exploratory process, it can be broadly understood as research, education and practice in global health that centres equity and rights, emphasises reflexivity, questions and disrupts the Anglo-centric hegemony of knowledge and takes critical approaches in revealing and tackling structural determinants of (ill) health. This means critical global health often necessitates interdisciplinary collaboration and employs transformative methodologies, e.g. participatory methods.
Aim of the Network:
Given that ECRs are often at the forefront of critical scholarship on global health, we aim to provide a critical space to facilitate knowledge exchange and promote opportunities for collaboration. To that end, we aim to hold events such as reading groups, symposiums and socials for ECRs working in critical global health. We welcome researchers who identify as ECRs across all disciplines and are currently working in, or interested in exploring, critical global health to join the Network.
Our main activities:
- Mapping and needs assessment of ECR critical scholars.
- Organise events and seminars on critical global health.
- Sharing the records of events and seminars via social media (podcast, Twitter).
Our values:
We emphasise positionality and reflexivity in knowledge production and promote interdisciplinary, critical approaches to global health.
Co-Chairs:
Rebecca Irons (Rebecca.irons@ucl.ac.uk) and Aaron Koay (aaron.koay.22@ucl.ac.uk)
UCL Critical Global Health Network Steering Committee
- Dr Rebecca Irons
As a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow working at the intersections of health and social justice, I am a strong advocate for collective action, horizontal collaboration, and the support and inclusion of those in positions of precarity.
In my role as a steering committee member for the network, I hope to help spark dialogue and cross-disciplinary communication on the pressing, critical issues that face those who research global health in the contemporary Anthropocene. My research expertise focuses on the health impacts of gender & sexuality, race & ethnicity, geopolitics, migration, and coloniality in Latin America and the United Kingdom. Whilst I am of course keen to advance further collaborative enquiry in these areas, I see the network principally as an opportunity to address the structural barriers faced by ECRs in particular who wish to undertake this kind of work – such as contract precarity, academic hierarchism, and funding restraints. I believe that supporting early career researchers is a priority when ensuring that enquiring minds in critical global health can best develop and work towards the greater social justice in health that is urgently needed.
- Aaron Koay
Initially trained as a pharmacist, Aaron Koay (he/him) is currently a PhD researcher at the UCL Institute for Global Health and a Research Officer at Global Health 50/50. Aaron's interdisciplinary PhD research explores the operationalisation of intersectionality in global health governance to achieve health equity.
As a steering committee member of the UCL Critical Global Health Network, Aaron is passionate about bringing a health policy and politics lens to understanding the ways in which global health inequities are shaped by actors, institutions, and interests to inform policy action and reform. In particular, Aaron is interested in issues related to governance, intersectionality, gender, decolonisation, anti-imperialism and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Through this Network, Aaron is keen to cultivate a community for Early Career Researchers and foster exchanges and collaborations across disciplinary boundaries.
You can find Aaron doing a headstand on his yoga mat when he is not at work! Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaroncckoay.
- Zakia Arfeen
Dr. Zakia Arfeen is an Associate Professor in Medical Education (Teaching) with a background in curriculum design, assessment, quality assurance, and faculty development within the Centre for International Medical Education Collaborations at UCL Medical School. With a background in General Practice, Dr. Arfeen’s interests lie in medical education, accreditation in medical education, brain drain and decolonization within healthcare and research. She is committed to fostering an environment where professionals and academics can thrive, collaborate and contribute to the global healthcare landscape and is keen to support this network in providing a platform for early career researchers and those interested in Critical Global Health.
- Sophia El Ouazzani
I am a dedicated Ph.D. student in Global Mental Health at University College London, focusing on occupational justice and recovery for individuals with mental health disabilities. My research explores cross-cultural psychiatry and cultural adaptations to mental health services, notably in Morocco and diverse communities in Canada, including immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
As a certified mental health occupational therapist, my collaboration with ethnoculturally diverse groups has heightened my cultural sensitivity and addressed challenges in mental health rehabilitation access. Notably during my work with Humanity & Inclusion, I actively collaborated with healthcare and community workers, as well as policymakers, contributing to the development of a culturally acceptable occupational therapy practice in Morocco.
My participation in the steering committee for UCL Critical Global Health Network is a great opportunity to further my knowledge in Critical Global Mental Health and learn more about decolonising mental health practices for ethnoculturally diverse population and settings. To support the sharing of knowledge among ECRs across discipline and expertise is a great opportunity, in my sense, to gain various perspectives on current global challenges and efficiently achieve common goals in Global Health.
- Simon Combes
Simon Combes has had a diverse and evolving academic journey, with my research interests shifting over the years to reflect my growing passions and concerns. Initially, he focused on exploring issues of inequality, seeking to understand the complex dynamics that underpin social and economic disparities. As Simon's research progressed, he became increasingly drawn to the field of migration studies, where he has published three articles that examine the experiences and challenges faced by migrants. Simon's most recent work in this area took the form of an ethnographic study, which delved into the lives of activists and volunteers who dedicate themselves to caring for migrants. Currently, he is engaged in theoretical work that seeks to reimagine the foundations of our economic system.
- Roghieh Dehghan
Roghieh's current Wellcome-funded project explores the moral and ethical aspects of trauma in Iranian refugee torture survivors in the UK. This research runs alongside his work as a GP in London.
Earlier in his career (2008–11), Roghieh researched palliative care services in Bangladesh, where he also volunteered as a doctor. Since 2012, his work has primarily centred on the psychological well-being of tortured refugees. In 2016, as part of an NIHR Fellowship, he led a study on the mental health impacts of sexual torture among Afghan, Iranian, and Kurdish refugees in the UK. The research aimed to enhance care standards by examining how culture and gender shape the mental health consequences of sexual torture and influence survivors' help-seeking behaviours. Roghieh also investigated the distinct psychological and social impacts of sexual assault during torture. This ongoing work, at the intersection of trauma, political violence, and mental health in marginalised and racialised communities, continues to drive my current project.