PhD Fellows

Rabab Chrifou

Beneficiary Placement:

Ghent University

PhD Topic:

Ethics in co-creation for public health

Bio:

I am a health scientist with a special interest in qualitative research, public health and ethics. In 2017, I successfully completed my master’s degree in International Public Health at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. I also followed a minor in Social Sciences during my bachelor study. After my graduation I conducted various research activities including participatory action research. Until now my journey as a researcher in public health has mainly focussed on the investigation and understanding of the perspectives of persons regarding a health topic. I have contributed to studies on breast cancer in women, the surveillance of medicines, the impact of disasters and crises on health, digital inclusion, physical active learning, juvenile rheumatism, mental health of youth, integrated elderly care, diabetes and fasting, the improvement of health behaviours among youth and youth empowerment. Furthermore, I have experience in facilitating participatory action groups with women and youth, and I have worked with different stakeholders. The past years have taught me that everything is connected and that therefore, integrating multiple perspectives is key to the betterment of society and health.

Being aware of ethical issues when conducting research benefits the quality of research. To me, being a researcher is more than merely listening to respondents or participants, analysing data and disseminating study results. Listening requires openness and curiosity, analysing data requires reflexivity and being critical to yourself and disseminating results requires the involvement of respondents and participants as well. Prior to the announcement of the Health CASCADE project, I had the ambition of further immersing myself in pedagogical and research ethics. I was very excited to encounter the vacancy on ethics in co-creation at the University of Ghent. This PhD trajectory is a unique opportunity to make a meaningful contributions in addressing the importance of ethical considerations and to help pave the way for more ethical consciousness in public health research.