by Johanna Spring
by Johanna Spring
Dr. Sumbal Shahbaz currently heads the Department of Health Professional Technologies (DHPT) at the University of Lahore, Pakistan. She has worked as researcher, healthcare practitioner, and educationist for over 10 years. She passionately advocates for various social and health issues like prevention of adolescent pregnancy, psycho-social health of female health care professionals, upholding women’s reproductive rights, and proliferation of e-health among various educated and uneducated groups.
bitterm@unifiedforhealth.org
Public Health Exchange Kenya
Merle is final year of medical student in Gießen, Germany, where she is also participating in a special curriculum on Global Health. Besides she works voluntarily for Medinetz, an organization which arranges medical care for people without health insurance. She is fascinated by topics such as the interdependency between health and social or political factors as well as infectiology. She joined UFH in summer 2022 and is excited to get involved in the partnership projects in Nairobi, Kenya.
hellerf@unifiedforhealth.org
Frauke studied pharmacy in Berlin. She graduated in 2014 and has been working as a pharmacist dice then. After working for Pharmacists without borders in Madagascar she started a postgraduate Master in International Health at Charité Berlin. In May 2022 she started working with a German human rights NGO as a consultant for global health.
Frauke joined UFH in 2021. Her main area of interest are the social determinants of health and equitable access to medical care.
hoffmanni@unifiedforhealth.org
Isabella is studying medicine at TU Munich, and will graduate in 2023. They participated in a Public Health Exchange in El Salvador in 2021, where their focus was on the continuation and expansion of a caries prevention project at the local school. This lead to them joining the UFH Team in 2022, to help with expanding the Public Health Exchange in El Salvador to include Dental Medicine students as well. Within global health they are especially interested in sustainability and decolonisation, and within Unified for Health they especially like the cultural exchange that UFH’s programs facilitate.
Irina studies Medicine in her final year in Aachen, Germany. She got involved with UFH through her stay in the Public Health Project in Nairobi, Kenya and decided to further contribute to the establishment of sustainable cooperations with the partner country. For her, medical as well as cultural exchange is important to create a basis for international collaboration and mutual transfer of knowledge.
Nikita is the incumbent chairperson of the Public Health Club (PHC) at the University of Nairobi, where she is a final-year medical student. Members of the club including medical, dental, and pharmacy students, run social projects to serve the Kenyan community.
The PHC collaborates with UFH on several projects. Of note is the vibrant UFH-PHC bilateral student exchange programme, which nurtures positive German – Kenyan relations and broadens students‘ perspectives on healthcare systems in Europe and Africa.
Abdón Calderón has worked as a doctor for 20 years, currently runs the Cruz Verde clinic in Riobamba. His wife Sandra Landivar is a naturopath by profession and has also worked in several clinics in Riobamba. More than a decade ago, they launched a social aid project together: the Fundación Sociedad Forjando Esperanza (SOFE). Both, together with many volunteers, put all their energy into social projects to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable population groups in the region of Chimborazo, Ecuador. SOFE has been collaborating with UFH since 2021.
Alejandro Mendoza currently works as a doctor in San Salvador. He practices in the COVID intensive care unit at the Hospital El Salvador. He also works at the Hospital Seguro Social ISSS.
In 2019, he served as a doctor at UCSF in El Zapote. He has been active with Unified for Health since 2020. He is supporting the students in the Public Health Exchange and is involved in initiating a cooperation with local students to establish a future collaboration with Unified for Health.
Moritz is a primary care resident with a Masters in Puplic Health from Charite, Berlin, where he is currently finalising reasearch projects and his PhD.
Margarita Olarte was born in Colombia, where she studied medicine and participated
as well as coordinated projects in public health, quality of health care and access to health care for vulnerable populations. In 2021 she completed a Master of Science in International Health at the University of Heidelberg. She is passionate about global health, reducing health inequities and bringing health care and access to vulnerable communities.
suffela@unifiedforhealth.org
Anne is currently completing her PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She joind UFH to support the Hospital Partnership in Kenya and Public Health Exchange in El Salvador.
Anna-Sophia is working as a pedeatric resident in Berlin. She is involved in the Partnership Project in Kenya and Public Health Exchange El Salvador.
freinbergerf@unifiedforhealth.org / Public Health Exchange Kenya
Franziska studied medicine in Kiel/Germany and graduated in 2019. She joined UFH in late 2018. Since then, she works within UFH for the Partnership Project in Nairobi. Cultural sensibility should be adressed during the preparation time. Her special interest in medicine and public health is therapy and prevention of tuberculosis disease.
springj@unifiedforhealth.org Public Helath Exchange Ecuador
Mein Name ist Johanna Spring und ich bin seit 2021 Ärztin. Ich bin u.a. für den Public Health Exchange in Ecuador verantwortlich und habe mich dort neben der Betreuung von Teilnehmern auch für die Erhebung von gesundheitsbezogenen Daten von Kindern eingesezt. Was muss man sonst noch über mich wissen? Große Katzenliebhaberin und Reisefan :).
boehringerl@unifiedforhealth.org
As a medical doctor in Residency and part of the “Global Health” curriculum at Justus Liebig University Gießen, Lena became more and more interested in Global Health. For her, listening and the will to understand different backgrounds as well as social structures is of uttermost importance so that reflected, responsible and appropriate actions can be taken.
To face this challenge, she is still learning for herself to try as much as possible and to encourage others to not lose focus of these principles.
Veronika studies medicine in Heidelberg and organizes and supports UFH Public Health projects in Ecuador. She is especially interested in bilateral exchanges and socially sustainable concepts of public health. She also loves music, nature and lively discussions. Having herself had the opportunity to explore public health systems in Ecuador, China, France, Spain and Germany, she wants to facilitate such experiences for other young people.
griesbacha@unifiedforhealth.org Public Health Exchange El Salvador
Anne studied medicine in Halle (Saale), Germany and graduated in spring 2021. She did a public health exchange in El Salvador in 2019. Since 2020, she has been mentoring medical students participating in the project in El Salvador through the BVMD. Her main area of interest in medicine is in the field of hepatology. She is doing her doctorate on hepatic encephalopathy in liver cirrhosis. In the field of public health in El Salvador, she has dedicated herself to a mental health project and conducted psychoeducation in school classes.
UnifiedForHealth (UFH) was established in 2014 as a platform for like-minded individuals to promote health, international solidarity and peace.
UFH strives to contribute to goal 3 (healthy lives for all) of the sustainable development goals, enhancing access to quality health care services and access to safe, effective and affordable medicines for all. Within this context, Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is a global health priority with significant action required to progressively improve overall population health outcomes in low, middle, and high-income countries.
Public Health Exchange Ecuador
kasnerc@unifiedforhealth.org
Global Health Challenges have always been the driving force of Charlotte’s personal and professional career. She is holding a Bachelor’s degree in Development, Globalisation and Gender Studies and finalising her Medical School in 2018. Focussing especially on women’s and children’s health, she has worked both as a medical student and as a social scientist in various health contextes in different countries. To Charlotte, the connection of diverse actors in health care is crucial in order to foster change.
Edgardo Javier/Garibo Arnulfo: Public Health Exchange (El Salvador)
Twinning ProjektGlobalHealth
kanngießerm@unifiedforhealth.org
Public Health Exchange (Mentor)
hartmanna@unifiedforhealth.org
While focusing on her PhD project on the history of family planning in Guatemala, Annika became interested in Global Health, its history and current trends. She studied and worked in Marburg, Bremen, Guatemala-City and Chapel Hill and is now a Research Fellow at Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen. As a trained historian, she is primarily interested in the history of development politics, gender dynamics and population politics as well as their implications for current developmental projects. For her, global health means getting together with people from different social, academic and cultural backgrounds in order to challenge health inequity and its underlying societal determinants.
Co-Founder
herrmannl@unifiedforhealth.org
With a background in European Studies, Economics and Medicine, Lukas has a particular interest in Universal Health Coverage and societal problems affecting health. This includes health equity and access to medicines. Lukas studied and worked in Köln, Chemnitz, Berlin, Riga, Gießen, Glasgow and Frankfurt.