CONTRIBUTION. Through a new leadership program on global health, SIGHT (Swedish Institute for Global Health Transformation) wants to actively contribute to developing leaders across sector boundaries in order to contribute to the UN’s global sustainability goal according to Agenda 2030. Eight researchers have now been accepted into the program, among them Max Petzold, professor in health science statistics at the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine.
The SIGHT institute will develop and strengthen leadership with its roots in solid research and with the experience of multidisciplinary collaborations. Eight Swedish researchers in different stages of their careers and research have now been accepted into the institute’s leadership program for SIGHT Fellows.
“The leadership program for SIGHT Fellows is a cornerstone in our work for global health and I am very pleased to have such competent and driven researchers in the program”, says professor Peter Friberg, manager of SIGHT.
“I am convinced that the first eight participants have the potential to take on leading roles in global health in the future. We believe the that the leadership program will strengthen these ambitious people in their work as well as in Sweden’s expressed interest in achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), where a focus on global health is a deciding factor for both sustainability and greater equality”, Peter Friberg continues.
The program for SIGHT Fellows is designed based on each individual person’s needs and long-term goals. The program involves mentoring from leading global health experts, field trips, lectures, participation in SIGHT’s many activities and networks as well as contributions to individual development.
Max Petxhold is happy to be acknowledged by SIGHT and KVA for his work on global health:
“For me personally it means a great deal in the form of new and strengthened contacts. The group SIGHT Fellows is itself a very inspiring group of strong, young researchers who represent many parts of global health research in Sweden. To also have access to SIGHT’s solid program for individual development will be really stimulating”, says Max.
Apart from his work as manager of Swedish National Data Service (SND), Max Petzold is an active researcher in global health who collaborates on research with among others WHO and UNICEF. A large part of Max’s research is to create global and regional estimates of different disease burdens and exposures. He hopes that the SIGHT program will widen his own work, but that it will also contribute to increased contact areas for the faculty.
“Sahlgrenska Academy lacks much of the width of collaborations research-wise and financially, that many other research settings in global health have built, and in that way we are missing out on some really large research programs. Although I’m still not quite sure how I will put the SIGHT scholarship to the best possible use”, says Max.
The Faculty Board of Sahlgrenska Academy has recently decided to establish a new professorship in global health, which will be advertised before the end of the year.
“Through an international recruitment of a well merited researcher along with the support from those of us who are already active I am convinced that we will be able to build a unit for global health research”, says Max Petzold.
The eight researchers who have been accepted into the SIGHT Fellows leadership program are:
- Associate Professor Tobias Alfvén, Department of Public Health Science, Karolinska Institute
- Associate Professor Beatrice Crona, Stockholm Resilience Center, Stockholm University
- M.D Helena Nordenstedt, Department of Public Health Science, Karolinska Institute
- Professor Max Petzold, Department of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, manager of Swedish National Data Service (SND)
- Dr. Martina Björkman Nyqvist, Department of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics
- Professor Andreas Mårtensson, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University
- Associate Professor Maria Nilsson, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University
- Dr. Vasna Ramasar, Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS)
SIGHT was founded in January 2017 through a generous donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. The institute resides at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The objective of SIGHT is to, based on a multidisciplinary approach, promote Swedish research and education and offer a scientific basis for policy work in the area of global health, with a special focus on women and children.
TEXT: ELIN LINDSTRÖM CLAESSEN
PHOTO: CECILIA HEDSTRÖM
