People

Senior Research and Project Manager

Milena Simic is a Senior Research and Project Manager on GEMMs. After gaining MSc in statistics in Canada, she moved to the UK and focused on mixed-methods research and working with groups marginalised due to their health condition (HIV, leprosy), behaviour (sex workers, injecting drug users) or identity (LGBTQ+). She enjoyed conducting research and coordinating studies on HIV within academia (Imperial College, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) and also coordinating evidence, research and response with charities (Lepra, Cancer Research UK).

Research Officer and Training Lead

Dr Roomi Aziz is a public health professional with more than ten years' experience. She is currently pursuing her PhD in public health at the University of Essex. Roomi is the regional coordinator for the Migration Health South Asia network, she is also coordinating the micro grant research projects in Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. She is also leading the Migration Health Research Priorities-setting exercise in Pakistan, and piloting of the Migrant Health Integration in Health Policy Barometer in Pakistan and Nepal.

Research Assistant

Doofan Udendeh is a passionate Global Public Health professional and a recent MSc Global Public Health graduate from the University of Essex. Her work is driven by a strong commitment to intersectional health equity, health systems strengthening, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Her qualitative research focused on identifying pre-hospital system barriers contributing to inequities in stroke outcomes in East Suffolk and North Essex, shedding light on critical gaps in emergency care access. Prior to this, Doofan played a key role in designing, implementing, and evaluating SRHR interventions in Nigeria, with a particular focus on marginalized populations and humanitarian settings. As a member of the Centre for Global Health and Intersectional Equity Research (CGHIER), she contributed to impact documentation for the Centre’s flagship INNOVATE research project—a groundbreaking initiative that applies an intersectionality theory of change to tackle mental health disparities in Mid and South Essex.

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PhD student

Obindra’s PhD will explore intersecting inequities faced by returnee migrants with disabilities from Gulf countries and Malaysia as they reintegrate into communities in Koshi and Bagmati provinces, Nepal. It examines their lived experiences, barriers, and facilitators throughout their migration journey. The findings will contribute to scholarship on migration health, disability, and equity, informing evidence-based policies and interventions in major labor-sending countries like Nepal.

PhD student

Melisa's research is on understanding the maternal lived experiences of internal and cross-border migrant women in accessing continuity of care in their mobile state. Using the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) framework and the Intersectionality theory, the research will also shed light on the challenges faced by health care workers of maintaining continuity of maternal care in South Africa where public healthcare resources are increasingly constrained.

PhD student

Mukul’s PhD explores migration experiences of queer men in India and how mobility shapes queer mental health and well-being. Using qualitative methods, I examine migration motivations, psychosocial stressors and access to support in the context of queer migration. My work contributes to understanding queer mobilities within the Global South and informs inclusive public health and social care interventions and policies in the region.

PhD student

Tanatswa's research looks at how the intersection of gender, agency and best interest determination shapes unaccompanied migrant children's access to healthcare. Centring children's voices in the migration-health dialogue, he draws on theoretical and methodological frameworks that allow migrant children to see and represent themselves, and to value their knowledge and co-contribution to the research process.

PhD student

Kamrun’s PhD will explore the intersections of the mental health burden, perception of the disability rights and lived experiences of healthcare access among People living with Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) and Leprosy in Bangladesh. She is conducting the research in collaboration with The Leprosy Mission International.

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