Zorana Alimpic
Zorana is a human rights researcher based in South Africa though she originally hails from Serbia having grown up in Canada. She holds a B.S.W (Ryerson University) and M.S.W (York University) from Canada where she worked with refugee and migrant communities as well as a Research Associate for York University. After completing her MPhil in Development Studies at the University of Oxford Zorana moved to South Africa where she has worked in a range of roles including pan-African projects for the UNDP and most recently as Senior Researcher for South Africa’s largest indigenous donor organisation, the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR).
As a Doctoral Fellow with the Canadian Social Sciences and Research Council, Zorana is undertaking her PhD at the School of Health in Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Dr Clara Calia and Dr Divya Sivaramakrishnan. Her dissertation is exploring the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental well-being of young people in South Africa and trying to identify best practice frameworks to help youth improve their well-being after a health crisis.
Email: z.alimpic@sms.ed.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zorana-alimpic-0b565a28/
Reham Almabadi
PhD candidate in nursing studies at the University of Edinburgh, supervised by Dr. Larry Doi and Dr. Colin Chandler. Dedicated to advancing self-management of sickle cell disease in Saudi Arabia. My PhD project is titled (Codesign of a Theory- and Evidence-Based Toolbox of Self-Management Interventions to Support University Students With Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) In Saudi Arabia).
I hold a bachelor degree in nursing science from King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2012-2016). Additionally, I earned a master’s degree with distinction in advanced nursing science from the University of Glasgow (2019-2020).
I worked as a paediatric nurse for one year at the International Medical Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Additionally, I was a quality coordinator at the ministry of health in Saudi Arabia. Currently, I am a teaching assistant at King Saud University in Riyadh who sponsored me for my PhD studies.
Email: S1928223@ed.ac.uk
Huimin Chong
Huimin joined the SCPHRP in 2023. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh, under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Williams and Dr. Elaine Haycock-Stuart. She earned her undergraduate degree in Nursing from Sun Yat-sen University and later completed a Master’s degree in Advanced Nursing at the University of Edinburgh. Huimin has a strong clinical research background and is a licensed nurse in China. She has contributed to studies on adverse reactions during intraperitoneal hyperthermic perfusion chemotherapy for gynaecological malignant tumours. In addition to her clinical expertise, Huimin has experience in public health policy, having worked for the Shenzhen Health Commission. Her current PhD research focuses on parental attitudes toward HPV vaccination for children of different genders. During her undergraduate studies, she also participated in an exchange program at the University of Hong Kong, further broadening her academic and cultural perspectives.
Email: H.Chong-4@sms.ed.ac.uk
Gosaye Fida
Gosaye is a public health principal with over 15 years of experience working in various public health and commissioning role working for NHS commissioning organisations in England. He is currently undertaking a PhD part-time in SCPHRP looking at data from the UK Diabetes Prevention programmes.
Email: s1795285@sms.ed.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mr-gosaye-fida-kaba-02b92419/
Wako Golicha
Wako Golicha is currently a PhD student working on the GroundsWell project. He joined SCPHRP as a PhD scholar under supervision of Professor Ruth Jepson and Dr Tom Clemens in September 2022. He was an assistant professor of public health at School of Public Health, Bule Hora University. He has obtained both bachelor and master’s degrees in Public Health from Hawassa University, Ethiopia. His research interest includes chronic non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, and infectious diseases. Additionally, he was a research and community services coordinator at Institute of Health of Bule Hora University, where he used to oversee research and community service activities undertaken by academic staff within the Institute.
Email: w.g.wako@sms.ed.ac.uk/bwakot730@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wako-golicha-01235b86
Zipporah Iregi
Zipporah Iregi is currently pursuing a Master of Science by Research in Nursing Studies at the University of Edinburgh, focusing on the transition experiences of newly graduated nurses in low- and middle-income countries. Her research aims to inform policies and interventions that better support early-career health workers, ultimately contributing to stronger healthcare systems and improved patient care.
A registered nurse with five years of experience in advocacy and communication, Zipporah leads the Africa Regional Hub of the Nursing Now Challenge. She uses her platform to champion fair wages, adequate PPE, and workforce development policies to improve conditions for nurses globally. In recognition of her efforts, she received the Global Nursing Now Challenge Advocacy and Communication Award in 2022. Additionally, Zipporah co-founded a mentorship and leadership initiative in Kenya, reaching over 3,000 nursing students, and equipping the next generation of nurses with essential skills for professional growth.
Email: Z.M.Iregi@sms.ed.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://ke.linkedin.com/in/zipporah-iregi
Xiaoyang Li
Xiaoyang joined SCPHRP in 2022. She is a third-year PhD student in Nursing studies at the University of Edinburgh, supervised by Dr. Sarah Rhynas and Professor Heather Wikinson. Xiaoyang has quantitative research experience in predicting the model establishment of Alzheimer’s Disease based on a meta-analysis of risk factors of AD. At the same time, she is a registered nurse in China. Her research area for her PhD programme is about exploring the experience and needs of care staff of people living with dementia who lived in care homes.
Email: X.Li-223@sms.ed.ac.uk
Sandra Peniston
Sandra is a nurse academic from York University, Toronto, Canada, and an adult Nurse Practitioner. She is currently a first-year PhD student in Nursing Studies and recipient of a School of Health in Social Science PhD Studentship (2022-2025). Sandra has been volunteering and conducting research in northern Ghana since 2010. As a member of the Ghana Health Team from 2010 to 2019, she worked with Ghanaian healthcare professionals and volunteers to drive health equity in resource-poor communities. Her area of research is cardiovascular diseases and how risk factors influence them. In a previous study conducted in Northern Ghana, she examined CVD occurrence and risk factors among adults over 40 years of age. A fatal or non-fatal cardiovascular event was at risk for 10.4% of the population with high rates of undiagnosed and uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes. Sandra’s objective of her doctoral thesis is to respond to the inadequate diagnosis and suboptimal control of hypertension and diabetes for adults in rural Northern Ghana by developing and feasibility-testing a co-produced primary healthcare intervention. Her proposed study will follow the process defined by the six steps in quality intervention development (6SQuID) framework to co-develop an intervention and feasibility study through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods.
Email: s.peniston@sms.ed.ac.uk
Framita Rahman
Framita is a lecturer at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. In addition to her role as a lecturer, she is actively engaged in community and volunteer activities. She is a member of the Lentera Negeri Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that focuses on providing education for underprivileged children, including those living in orphanages and scavenger communities. She also volunteered during the Lombok earthquake in 2018.
Her passion for working with communities, particularly marginalised groups, has led her to focus her research and community engagement on HIV issues. Her research and community service activities have enabled her to establish collaborations with several NGOs focusing on HIV/AIDS issues, as well as with primary health care centres in Makassar. Her research focuses on prevention and on improving the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS, particularly among key populations such as men sex with men, female sex workers and adolescents living with HIV. The desire to contribute more to the community through research is the main reason she is pursuing her PhD. She is currently a first-year PhD student in Nursing, supervised by Dr Andrew James Williams and Dr Larry Doi. Her PhD project will focus on HIV prevention for young people by reducing HIV-related stigma.
Email: s1576774@sms.ed.ac.uk
Rachel Roy
Rachel Roy is a PhD by Distance student in the School of Health in Social Science. She currently lives in Ontario, Canada, and works as a Knowledge Broker for the Chronic Pain Network and as a Part-Time Assistant Professor at McMaster University’s Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact. Rachel holds two undergraduate degrees and an MSc Health Promotion and Population Health. She has over a decade of experience in public health and health promotion practice. Her cross-national PhD research will examine current gaps in comprehensive health promotion evaluation, specifically as measured against the Ottawa Charter. Her work, supervised by Dr. Andrew Williams and Dr. Stephen Malden, will involve a scoping review, qualitative data collection from practitioners, and a pilot of a novel evaluation tool at Canadian and UK sites. Her academic and professional pursuits underscore her commitment to advancing health program evaluation on a global scale, all while managing the lively demands of family life with three children and two dogs.
Email: R.K.Roy@sms.ed.ac.uk
Chris Sweeney
Christopher joined the SCPHRP in 2022. He is a PhD student supervised by Dr Larry Doi and Dr Elaine Haycock-Stuart. He was awarded a Chief Scientist Office (CSO) funded Clinical Academic Fellowship to explore how parents of children under five respond to childhood illness and make decisions to use unscheduled care services as a single system within NHS Scotland.
He holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Glasgow (2017-2018), a honors degree in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing from Glasgow Caledonian University (2012-2013), and a degree in Adult Nursing from the University of Strathclyde (2005-2008).
Christopher has worked as a Nurse and Health Visitor in Scotland and as a nursing manager for Medecins Sans Frontieres in maternal and child health in South Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia.
Email: csweeney@ed.ac.uk
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-j-sweeney
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sweencj
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christopher-Sweeney-8
Helen Zhang
Helen is a master by research nursing student. She completed her bachelor degree in Lanzhou University. She had a forty-week internship in 11 different units and passed Chinese Nurse Qualification Examination, which underpin her research and study. She had the experience using survey and questionnaire to conduct quantitative research about self-efficacy in Chinese nursing students who want to take postgraduate entrance examination. She now focuses on adolescents and health literacy. She wants to compare the distinction about adolescents’ health literacy between UK and China in her PhD studies.
Email: Y.Zhang-742@sms.ed.ac.uk
