International Footprint

I have built strong relational ties within my local and international academic and non academic communities.

I am a part of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) and have served as an Executive Member from 2019- 2023. Previously, I led the Division for the Research and Methodology of PsySSA and was awarded the Most Active Division Award for 2018-2019 based on our engagement with the mentorship of emerging psychologists and students. In 2017 my groups PREDAC group poster was selected to be presented at the New Academics Regional Colloquium. Currently, I am working with colleagues from WITS, UWC, UCT, and UJ on a Research Methods textbook which will be published in 2025. I am an external moderator for most of these universities as well as an external examiner for theses.

In 2019-2023 I was the first South African recipient and graduate of the VLIR-UOS Global Minds PhD Scholarship at KU Leuven, Belgium, and the first South African to receive the Springer Nature Award for Inclusive Health Research in July 2023 in Brazil. In September 2023 she also received the Cochrane Thomas Chalmers Award in London for my innovation and methodological work of introducing storyboarding as a method of synthesis in QES. I am involved in the International AIDS Society as a mentor and have been invited to Germany in July 2024 to participate in the mentorship programme with mentees in attendance.

Internationally, I have partnerships with colleagues at KU Leuven, Springer Nature, University of Pittsburgh, University of Venda, and Microsoft Africa which involves research, teaching, and collaborative grant writing. I am particularly looking forward to hosting all BMC and Springer Nature Editors at our Faculty in October 2024 for the Inclusive Health Equity Forum and Awards, with special sessions arranged for our students and staff. I will also be hosting a consortium from Microsoft US and Microsoft Africa in May 2024 to introduce my PhD and Master's students as well as colleagues in the faculty and MRC, as we all work together on an AI-powered app to improve inclusive health communication between doctors and patients in South Africa. A more recent invitation has been received from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine to visit the school for an expert panel meeting on the use of qualitative evidence in guideline development.

Studying and Living Abroad

Freed-Hardeman University

My engagements abroad started rather early in my higher education career. I spent four years of undergraduate study in Tennessee at Freed-Hardeman University (FHU). At the time there was no social media, no USBs, no laptops. and no Whatsapp - we had phone cards and floppy disks. This experience taught me about flexibility, adaptability and resilience. More importantly I learnt about cultural humility and this prepared me for engaging with stakeholders from different countries, industries, and with different perspectives. More than twenty years later I still have ties to friends and colleagues that I met while at FHU.

University of Oslo

After my Honours at FHU, I returned to South Africa to enrol in a Masters in Research Psychology at the University of the Western Cape. During my studies, I was selected and invited to attend the University of Oslo for a semester exchange. The long winter dark days and again having to be resilient due to starting out with no support system allowed me to learn the value of others. I quickly found my feet and made connections that are still lasting today. These two experiences shaped my early perspective on travel, networking and the value of internationalisation.

African Christian College, Swaziland

In I received an invitation to teach at the African Christian College in Manzini, Swaziland for a semester. Surrounded by natural beauty and living in a self sustaining community was a breathe of fresh air. I met and got to know wonderful friends and colleagues. I taught leadership to African men and women and I am convinced I learnt more from them than they from me. This experience opened my eyes to missed opportunities to connect with regional and local African partners who are tucked away in rural areas.

KU Leven

In 2018, I was awarded a VLIR-UOS PhD Global Minds Scholarship which was a joint agreement with Stellenbosch to spend one semester each year abroad. For my PhD I was under the supervision of Prof Karin Hannes, Department of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, and Prof Taryn Young, Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University. This was the most challenging and rewarding experience. Spending a semester abroad away from my children and family and pursuing my lifelong dream of PhD. The image on the wall in the walkway was something I had to pass by daily and it became my wall of affection keeping me grounded. Place and space create an environment for our human experience. The colours and the image reminded me to be at peace and to be fully present in my growth.

When my daughter arrived earth side in 2021, I spent many hours questioning my career in academia whilst travelling. When speaking to my young daughter via video call, at the time she was just 1 years old I would feel ready to give it all up to be with her. It takes a serious sense of commiment and mental strength to navigate international travel in academia as a parent. I hope that one day she looks back and learns to follow her dreams and know how important support systems are. I was lucky enough to have a strong support system through her father, my extended family, and my work colleagues.

Fortunately, in my final semester of 2022, I was able to bring her along and I valued the experience of having her there to share the moments with me. Being an academic mom is hard. Being an academic mom who knows that to move forward internationalisation is neccessary, is even harder.

The embodied wall, Leuven

Video calls with my heart

Walking in Leuven with mom

Mom and daughter at work day

Social, Methodological & Theoretical Innovation / 'Kreative' Research Group, KU Leuven

I joined SOMETHIN'K in 2019 during my first visit the KU Leuven in Belgium as a PhD student under the supervision of Prof Karin Hannes. The research group invests in social innovation and actively pushes towards the development of methods and models for positive change in society. We test, evaluate, implement, and improve existing methods, techniques, models or d.a.t.a sets generated in fields such as urban development, the public art, design and technology sector, community-based research practice and the global sustainable development area. Our focus is on the creation of inclusive, sustainable societies. Where necessary, we re-appropriate methods developed in other disciplines (art & science) for use in the broad field of social-behavioral sciences, or develop our own innovative approach to respond to emerging social challenges, whilst remaining sensitive to quality control and empirical grounding. Our perspective is multimodal in nature, combining numerical, textual, sensory and/or arts-based research data to study complex social phenomena. We develop theoretical frameworks as a basis for how such phenomena can be understood and organized.

European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Edinburgh 2019

Core themes in SOMTHIN'K Research Group

SOMETHIN'K Team building through art, Leuven 2019

European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Malta 2020

Evidence Synthesis and the Arts

Global Multimodal Methods Group

I am a founding member and co-lead of the Multimodal Methods Group which focuses on the use of art and alternative data in evidence synthesis. We work across organisations such as Cochrane and JBI. Our members and network span globally. I am also an active member of the Arts Based Global Research Consortium which emphasises the use of art as evidence and clarifies the links of arts-based practice across disciplines.

Arts-Based Research Global Consortium

The Arts-Based Research Global Consortium is a group of international scholars who have gathered together for the purpose of advocating for the visibility, accessibility, and valuation of arts-based research approaches in addressing human rights, social justice, and critical global issues. Within our current socio-political context and climate, the values of empathy, understanding, introspection, and truth, relative to the communal human condition are at a critical point. (Gerber et al.,2020).

Global Health and Inclusive Research

International Visits and Mobility

Visits abroad

2024 (Sept) : Qualitative Evidence Synthesis for Use in WHO guidelines workshop, University of Liverpool, UK.

2024 (July) : International AIDS Society Mentor Workshop, Munich, Germany.

2022 : Summer School: Science Communication Today - Challenges and Opportunities in the SDGs Era, Venice International University, Venice.

2023 : 1 week visit with Nature to Einstein Institute, Sao Paolo, Brazil

2019-2023 : Stellenbosch University – KU Leuven Sandwich Programme (50% split for 4 years)

2016 : Strengthening Capacity for Implementation Research, World Health Organisation - Hanoi, Vietnam.

2006 : Erasmus Exchange Semester, University of Oslo, Norway (MA Research Psychology)

2000-2004 : International student, Freed-Hardeman University, USA (BSc. Psychology)

Semesters at KU Leuven 2023

Celebrating my graduation with my research group in Leuven

Hosting International visitors

2024 (October) : BMC Editors, Springer Nature, and Nature Africa - Nature Health Equity Café and Awards

2024 (Sept) : Prof Jessica G. Burke, Department of Behavioral & Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health - Collaborative Research Project

2024 (May) : Jacki O’ Neil, Microsoft and Microsoft Africa – Collaborative AI Research Project

2023 : Prof Rolee Aranya, Department of Architecture and Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

2022 : Prof Karin Hannes, Social Research Methods Group, Department of Social Sciences, KU Leuven.

Participatory Methods workshop at SU 2021

Reflections

In the pursuit of health equity within the Global South, the importance of networking and relationship building cannot be overstated. The multifaceted health challenges endemic to regions such as our own in South Africa demand a collaborative approach, transcending the traditional silos of medical expertise, public policy, and community engagement.

Through the strategic networks, stakeholders from diverse sectors can converge to share insights, resources, and innovative strategies, and foster a multidisciplinary response to health disparities.

Relationship building, in this context, serves as the cornerstone for effective collaboration. By aligning efforts, stakeholders can leverage their collective strengths, ensuring that interventions are not only scalable but also culturally attuned and sustainable. The power of networking extends beyond immediate health outcomes. It facilitates a broader dialogue on systemic inequities and the social determinants of health, driving policy changes and fostering a more inclusive approach to healthcare. In essence, networking and relationship building are not merely tactical tools but foundational to the ethos of health equity, enabling a community-centric model of health that prioritizes the needs and voices of the most marginalized.

Simply put, networking and building relationships are really important if we want to improve health for everyone in the Global South. We are facing big health challenges, and it's tough for one person or group to tackle them alone. By coming together and sharing what we know, we can make a bigger difference. Everyone brings something special to the table.

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