Name Responsible Activity "Professional Learning & Development, Corporate Training and Lifelong Learning" "Nele De CuyperJeroen Stouten" "The Center for Professional Training and Development and Lifelong Learning (POOLL) conducts research into learning in education and organizations from the perspective of professional learning, lifelong learning and continuing education. Themes include: learning in groups and teams, peer-assisted learning, mentoring and coaching, learning strategies in cooperative learning environments, competence development and assessment, etc." "Institute for Family Law and Juvenile Law" "Ingrid Boone" "At the Institute for Family Law and Juvenile Law, comparative and empirical research is conducted in the field of Persons and Family Law. The Institute also provides education in the Bachelor's and Master's programs in Law." "Political Representation in Diverse Societies" "Political representation is a crucial concept in political science. In essence, representation entails something or someone (the agent) standing for an absent thing or person (the principal). Political representation thus places an intermediary (agent) between citizens (principals) and political decision-making. These agents are called representatives. The fact that every society contains different interests and nodes that want to be represented at the government level is clearly part of all democratic processes. Political parties and their parliamentarians and ministers stand for different perspectives on society, and citizens vote for the party or person that best represents their vision. This representation of classic groups and group interests is a familiar notion: liberal parties traditionally appeal more to the liberal professions and the self-employed; socialist parties speak to the working classes; and regional parties address issues that concern specific ethnically, linguistically, or geographically identifiable groups. The political representation of societal groups that have surfaced more recently is a great deal more problematic. This concerns groups that are distinguished on the basis of gender, age, ethic/cultural background, or sexual orientation. Classic fault lines such as class or education also rear their heads in this regard. Different studies show that these groups are often insufficiently represented in political structures. This political underrepresentation of socially disadvantaged groups is now more and more seen as a societal and political problem undermining the representativeness of political institutions and, by implication, the democratic integrity of the decision-making process. The underrepresentation of societal groups and the lack of representativeness of the political decision-making process can however manifest in different ways. The literature points to the (im)possibility of participating in elections, the physical absence/presence in representative institutions, and the (lack of) substantive representation of certain groups' interests as possible manifestations. These manifestations concern, respectively, the formal, descriptive, and substantive dimensions of representation as a concept. There has not yet been much research into the political representation of societal groups in Belgium, and the studies that do exist have often been the work of one or a handful of researchers. In the last few years, however, several researchers have started to engage with these matters (or elements thereof). By joining the forces of different researchers in this developing research domain we hope to further build on the scientific research in this field and on the expertise these two partners have accumulated. This would then also solidify and further develop the leading role of both partners in this research domain. By joining their potential, the concerned partners aim to realize three matters in their research: First, to continue, structurally secure, and, where possible, advance the existing collaboration between their two research groups. Researchers from both partner institutions will, where possible and when opportune, work jointly on journal articles, conference papers, and book chapters. (Further) co-advisorship of PhDs and joint memberships to supervisory research committees will also be sought where possible. Second, the partners wish use their alliance to initiate new joint research into the political representation of social groups. Joint research proposals will address the following well-known sources of funding: the specific research funds of both their institutions, the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO), the research projects of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, as well as ad hoc sources of policy-related funding. We here envisage research that is more theoretical in nature, but also empirical research in Belgium and, as much as possible, research that takes up an international-comparative perspective. The researchers concerned already have access to existing scientific networks and wish to further develop these to use them for research purposes (e.g. ECPR Standing Groups on Gender & Politics, Committee on Political Sociology of International Political Science Association, ECPR Standing Group on Political Parties). Third, to realize these research objectives, investments will have to be made to further familiarize the two research groups with each other's expertise. Meetings and discussions will make the partners more familiar with each other's research domains and current research projects. The mutual consultation through these meetings and brainstorm sessions will also result in working out a joint research agenda and concrete initiatives in terms of project proposals. Possible connections to the international research agenda will here too, as noted above, be an important criterion. The main research themes for this joint research about the representation of social groups are rooted in the three dimensions of representation: - Formal dimension: this, among other matters, concerns the election regulations and techniques that are used to determine citizens' preferences and to convert those to the appointing of representatives. Relevant themes include the discussion about active and passive voting rights for certain social groups, the extent to which these voting rights are exercised, and the extent to which political parties push forward candidates from these social groups so that voters can express their thoughts on this. - Descriptive dimension: this takes a closer look at who the representatives are, what their characteristics are, and to what extent they/these mirror the population composition. Research themes here include mapping out underrepresentation, studying the roles of parties and voters in the underrepresentation of certain groups in parliament, and examining the desirability and effects of introducing quota. - Substantive dimension: This concerns the way the interests of social groups are represented in terms of content. The study of this dimension was long limited to analyses of the ways parliamentarians take up their mandate in terms of content and of the actions representatives take to look after the interests of the people they represent. Recent developments in the literature, however, argue for a broadening of this approach. On the one hand, scholars are suggesting studies look beyond the parliamentary arena and include other actors that take part in substantive representation - this would mean including civil society organisations, civil servants, and the media. On the other hand, some scholars defend the argument that representation need not always be a one-way process that runs from the voter to the representative; representatives can also themselves define interests and constituents that they wish to represent. Research around this dimension quite logically explores both these fields not just by mapping out to what extent (other) actors engage in representation, what the effects of this are, and which factors influence this, but also by studying which new groups are addressed by representatives, how this is done, what effects this has, and how people in these groups deal with this 'reverse' act of representation." "Sexual and Reproductive Health Research Group" "We contribute to the improvement of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) through linking scientific research, advanced education, policy support and capacity-strengthening. We focus on the broader perspective of promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights through addressing one overarching research question: “How can we improve SRH focusing on disease prevention and health promotion  in a globalized world?”We believe that people in all parts of the world should be able to make informed choices about their SRH respecting sexual and reproductive rights in enabling environments, with equal access, built on scientific evidence. Our work is focused around several critical intersections between four key populations and SRH topics.We use quantitative, qualitative and mixed method inter-disciplinary approaches (e.g. epidemiology, sociology, anthropology, psychology, demography) that explain risk and vulnerability as evidence base for improving SRH outcomes.We contribute actively to teaching at ITM and externally, including on the following:Sexual & Reproductive Health and HIV: beyond SilosWrite your paper based on Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data on reproductive and child healthFollow us on twitter @SRHGroup_ITM.The Sexual and Reproductive Health Group has been created by “merging” two research units (HIV and Sexual Health and Maternal and Reproductive Health). Current Research MATCOMATCO stands for Global Study of Maternal health Provision during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The study's objective is to understand the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care available to pregnant, labouring and postpartum women and their newborns, and to mitigate against the negative consequences by extracting and sharing solutions developed. The study has three separate sub-studies - a global online survey of health professionals, a case study of maternity wards in referral hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa, and a study of postnatal care provision in Belgium.Contact person: Lenka BenovaProject website: MATCOPROMISEPre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has the potential to be a game-changer in controlling the HIV epidemic. Belgium adopted PrEP to strengthen the national HIV control strategy in 2017. However, important questions on whether and how the demonstrated clinical efficacy of PrEP will translate into population-level effectiveness are still unanswered. The overall objective of this project is to learn how PrEP roll-out can be optimized to result in maximum impact on HIV and sexual health. To reach the objective, the project is composed of 4 thematic Work Packages (WP). Uptake and use of PrEP in large-scale programs will depend on how individuals and communities engage this new prevention measure: men having sex with men (MSM) (WP 1)and people with migrand background (WP2). It also remains unclear which delivery models are most suited to provide and support PrEP use as part of combination prevention: PrEP user’s needs (WP3) and health care provider’s options (WP4). PROMISE is funded by FWO (Strategic Basic Research, SBO). It has a duration of four years, starting from 2019. The consortium consists of the team at ITM (coordinator) and the team of Dr. Edwin Wouters at the University of Antwerp. Contact person: Bea VuylstekeProject website: PROMISEAlso visit the website of the Be Prep-ared project.The ALERT intervention research projectIntrapartum care needs more attention: every day more than 7,000 women and their offspring could be saved if known evidence-based intervention were consistently implemented during the few hours surrounding birth. Hospitals care for about 40-50% of all births in Sub-Saharan Africa including complicated births. ALERT (Action Leveraging Evidence to reduce perinatal Mortality and morbidity in Sub-Saharan Africa) is a 5-year hospital maternity-based quality improvement and implementation science project in Benin, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. The project is coordinated at Karolinska Institutet, by the project coordinator Dr Claudia Hanson, and funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020. The aim of the project is to develop and evaluate a multifaceted intervention to strengthen the implementation of evidence-based interventions and responsive care and reduce in-facility perinatal mortality and morbidity through a multidisciplinary approach. Our team is a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians (obstetrics and midwifery), public health physicians, social scientists, health systems specialists, medical anthropologists, economists, and management scientists from leading universities and research institutions. The principal investigator (and ITM contact person) for this project at ITM is Dr. Lenka Benova, who works closely with Prof. Bruno Marchal and Prof. Wim Van Damme to deliver the realist and economic evaluation components of this project.Contact person: Lenka BenovaProject website: ALERT projectBelgian Development Cooperation (DGD) and Technical Cooperation (ENABEL) projectsIn Guinea the SRH Group provides scientific support to develop and implement jointly with the Centre National de Formation et de Recherche en Santé Rurale (CNFRSR) Maferinyah, e-learning modules on Management of Sexual and Reproductive Health programmes/services (eSSR course), Primary Health Care (eSSP course) and Methods Research (eMR course). In Cambodia the SRH Group has a long term collaboration with the National Center of HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STD (NCHADS) and contributes to strengthening the capacity in conducting operational research (OR) (e.g. PMTCT cascade analysis; Follow-up of Congenital Syphilis) and implementing integrated and evidence-based HIV strategies.In Benin the SRH Group collaborates with le Centre de Recherche en Reproduction Humaine et Démographie (CERRHUD) to explore determinants of utilization of SRH services along the Continuum of care.In Burkina Faso the SRH Group collaborates with Centre Muraz to conduct operations research setting up and evaluating cervical cancer screening strategies for female sex workers. Contact person: Thérèse Delvaux Dynamics between sexual risk behaviour, social context and the use of PrEP among MSMPre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) - the preventive use of antiretroviral medication - is a novel and highly efficacious tool, which could have an important impact on the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM). It has recently been made available in Belgium and other countries, and will soon be implemented in many countries throughout the world. But to maximise the impact of PrEP, we need better insights to optimise the roll-out of this novel tool. This project, funded by FWO to Dr Thijs Reyniers (as a junior postdoctoral fellow) and ANRS, aims to gain knowledge on PrEP use and sexual behaviour to provide better insights into PrEP users’ needs; to explore how PrEP use may be influenced by social context; and to explore barriers and facilitators for providing PrEP, using PrEP and reaching MSM in 4 West-African countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Togo). In Belgium, we will use quantitative data (medical records and surveys) collected among PrEP users who have come forward in Antwerp since June 2017 and additionally conduct in-depth interviews to gain insights into their needs towards PrEP care. In Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Togo a local research team is set up to conduct interviews with PrEP users and providers, and focus group discussions with MSM. In both data collections, we will particularly focus on how social context may shape the use of PrEP. The results of this project will enable a better understanding of how to optimise the roll-out of PrEP, while taking into account the social context in which it is implemented.Contact person: Thijs ReyniersExamining barriers to providing good quality postnatal careMany women die during pregnancy and childbirth around the world and this problem is most urgent in low-resource contexts such as sub-Saharan Africa. Close monitoring of women and babies during the first hours and days after childbirth (the postnatal period) can save many lives. More than half of births in low-resource countries now occur in health facilities, which should make it easier to provide postnatal monitoring and treatment if necessary. However, many women are not receiving even basic postnatal care, such as staying long enough in the facility, or being checked before discharge. This project is funded by FWO under the Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme to Dr. Lenka Benova. Within it, she will explore the barriers and enablers to providing postnatal care monitoring to women before and after discharge from health facilities in Tanzania and Guinea. Quantitative data from patient records and qualitative data from interviews with clinicians and women will be used. The findings will better enable countries and health facilities to implement new WHO postnatal care recommendations (expected in 2020).Contact person: Lenka BenovaHIV-SAMPeople of sub-Saharan African descent are an important priority population for HIV prevention in Europe. In Belgium, they are the second largest group among newly reported HIV infections (28% in 2018), while constituting a small population minority (i.e. 1.6% of the Belgian population). Several factors account for this phenomenon, e.g. high HIV prevalence in small sexual networks, migration-related hardship and socio-economic precarity, HIV-related stigma and low HIV prevention demand. To account for this reality, HIV prevention and sexual health promotion for this population at higher risk of HIV acquisition must be tailored to their needs, requiring an in-depth understanding of epidemiological and social factors driving HV transmission dynamics. Against this background, the HIV-SAM project develops and implements HIV prevention and sexual health promotion for sub-Saharan African migrants living in Flanders for more than two decades. The project is commissioned by the Flemish Ministry of Welfare, Public Health, Family and Poverty Reduction. The project adopts an evidence-based and participatory approach to develop and implement HIV prevention and sexual health promotion. Implementation is strongly linked to research to inform evidence-based interventions in line with the HIV care continuum, i.e. primary HIV prevention, HIV testing and linkage to care, and supporting people living with HIV (PLHIV) in treatment adherence and achieving a good quality of life. The participatory approach allows for creating ownership of HIV prevention in the affected communities. The project closely collaborates with HIV prevention networks of African communities including socio-cultural associations, churches, patient associations, and committed individual volunteers. Important activities are the promotion and implementation of de-medicalised HIV testing activities to reach African migrants and newcomers with a migrant background with undiagnosed HIV. Recent research activities include a representative HIV prevalence study using community-based-participatory research (Loos et al., 2017) and a qualitative investigation of HIV-stigma, its manifestations and outcomes in the community and among HIV positive sub-Saharan African migrants currently under way. As migration is an increasing global public health priority with considerable health impact, we are currently widening the scope of our research interest in migration and health: we are collaborating with CeMIS by organizing an annual symposium on migration and health, and developing research proposals on broader health promotion topics relevant for people with a migrant background. Contact persons: Christiana Nöstlinger, Lazare ManirankundaWebsite: HIV-SAMProjects examining SRH among adolescentsAdolescents and young people (10-24 years) are an important key population in global efforts to eliminate HIV, but also more widely for supporting them in achieving good SRH. AIDS is still the leading cause of death among young people in Africa, and the second leading cause globally, and in many parts of the world adolescents have worse treatment outcomes compared to children and adults. In addressing these challenges, the groups’ research focus is on drivers of HIV transmission among adolescents and young people, and on the systematic development and evaluation of interventions to improve their SRH. A current PhD project conducted by Okikiolu Badejo in Nigeria aims at unpacking what constitutes “youth-friendly” services, and at a better understanding of what may constitute a minimum package of care considering substantial differences among adolescents and young adults in terms of their HIV service needs. Using mixed methods research, the study will characterize patterns of care engagement and virologic suppression among adolescent and young people living with HIV, as well factors driving the observed patterns across the spectrum of adolescents and young people living with HIV.In Zimbabwe, in collaboration with CeSHHAR, we are implementing and evaluating a project on second chance education among highly-vulnerable adolescent girls.Contact persons: Christiana Nöstlinger, Marie LagaCo-MSM-PrEPCohMSM-PrEP is a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) demonstration project in 4 West African countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo. The objective is to assess the acceptability and feasibility of PrEP for men who have sex with men (MSM) as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention package in community-based clinics in West Africa. The SRH group is coordinating the Sexually Transmitted Infections diagnostics and quality control, and the qualitative substudy. ITM is collaborating in this project with partners from France (IRD Montpellier & Marseille, Coalition Plus) and from 4 countries in West Africa (ARCAD-SIDA, Bamako, Mali; AAS, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Espace Confiance, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Espoir Vie Togo, Lomé, Togo). The project started in 2017, for four years, and a follow-up project is correctly being planned. Contact person: Bea VuylstekeWebsite: Access to Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for Men Who Have Sex With Men Previous projects Unmet need for obstetric careArchived websiteModules and scientific papers (zip file)" "Linguistics Research Unit, Antwerp Campuses" "Karen Lahousse" "The Linguistics Research Unit, Campus Sint-Andries Antwerpen, is not a separate research unit as such. It refers to those members of the department of linguistics (Onderzoekseenheid Taalkunde / Linguistics Research Unit) that work exclusively or predominantly on the Campus Sint-Andries Antwerpen." "Health Systems and Health Policy Research Group" "ObjectivesThe Health Systems & Health Policy Group aims at making health systems more people-centered, integrated, accountable, equitable and resilient. Through our research, educational and service delivery activities, we aim at improving health policies and systems so that the right to health and Universal Health Coverage is guaranteed to all people.We contribute to policies, programmes and local health systems that lead to responsive, equitable and high-quality care. In all our work, we consider social, political and cultural determinants of health and their effects on vulnerable groups, as well as the planetary boundaries.Our work is inspired by the values of Primary Health Care (Declaration of Alma Ata and Astana). In practice, we create strong synergies between our research, education and capacity strengthening activities, co-producing, synthesizing and disseminating knowledge on people-centered health systems, policies and programmes to an audience beyond academics.We adopt a systems approach that focuses on the interfaces between policies, programmes, services, people, communities and the environment. Our current focus is on the organization of local (district) health systems, national and global health (workforce) policy formulation and implementation, universal health coverage and equity, governance and accountability, health in fragile settings and research methodology for complex problems. Cross cutting these themes are the focal areas of eco-health (including urban health and climate change), mental health and vulnerable groups/communities. Decolonization and coloniality are another cross-cutting concerns.Our group consists of the Complexity and Health Unit, Health Policy Unit and the Equity and Health Unit. These multi-disciplinary units bring together talent from all over the world and from disciplines ranging from political science, sociology, anthropology and management to medicine, nursing and public health.Our methodological expertise centres around (policy) implementation science, political-economy analysis, participatory action research, complexity and theory-driven evaluation (including realist evaluation). We apply this for example in studies of policy implementation (Results4TB, Scuby), quality of care interventions (Alert), equity (Theta project, India), urban health governance (CREDO programme, RDC), health system strengthening (HSTP, India, AR & HSS, Mauretania - watch video) and global health diplomacy. We use the same approach on infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, a case par excellence where complex systems thinking is a must, and priority essential services, including services for maternal, neonatal and child health, HIV/AIDS, TB, diabetes and other NCDs to investigate how health systems can contribute to their management.Current research objectivesTo develop and test complex-sensitive models for governance and accountability at local, national and global levelTo assess the formulation, implementation and scaling up of policies and programmes for UHC, health system strengthening and disease controlTo assess (strategies to improve) health system resilience in fragile settings, complex emergencies and urban settingsTo develop better evidence on how quality of care can be improved in low-resource settingsTo identify and test effective national and local (urban) health system models that include an eco-health perspectiveTo develop research methodologies for complexity in health, including the further development of realist evaluationTeachingTeaching is an important part of our portfolio. We are organizing and teaching the following modules:Introduction to International Health (Tropical Medicine and International Health postgraduate certificate course, ITM): Fundamentals of Public Health.MSc Public Health, ITM Health Systems and Health Policy (5 weeks) and Health problems and programmes (5 weeks)Health Policy and Systems Research Methodology (3 weeks)Health Policy and Governance (3 weeks)Health Economics & Financing for UHC (3 weeks)Social Protection in Health for Universal Health Coverage (3 weeks)Globalisation & Health (3 weeks)Health Systems Performance Analysis (3 weeks)Health Systems Strengthening (3 weeks)Pharmaceutical policies in health systems (3 weeks)PhD studies: On average, 14 PhD students are supervised by our staff at any point in time.Our staff teaches abroad, for instance at Sciences Po (Paris), Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique (Rennes), Maastricht University, Fordham University (New York) and at EMRO.Capacity developmentWe are actively involved in capacity development programmes and service delivery. Within the Framework Agreement programme, we support our partners in Cambodia, Bénin, Guinée, DR Congo and South Africa. We currently also support the AI-PASS project in Mauretania.We have close and longstanding ties with a number of partners, including the Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru (India), the Centre de Recherche en Reproduction Humaine et en Démographie CERRHUD (Benin), CNFRSR Maferinyah (Guinée), the African Centre of Excellence for the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases (CEA-PCMT) (Guinée), the National Institute of Public Health (Cambodia), the Makerere School of Public Health (Uganda), the School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape (Cape Town), the School of Public Health, Lubumbashi, the CCSC Kinshasa, and the National Health Security Office, Ministry of Health (Thailand).We publish the weekly International Health Policies newsletter, and founded and support the Emerging Voices for Global Health network. We are engaged in networks like Collectivity, Health Systems Global (Shapes), ITM’s alumni network, MedicusMundi and the Geneva Global Health Hub, through which we maintain a unique relation with public health experts and policymakers around the world.These connections and our research projects inform our policy advice to a range of partners including the Belgium Government, besides feeding into our teaching activities. We cover the global health and planetary health agendas, as well as pharmaceutical policies and ethics."