Spotlight on Joyce Browne

ECTMIH 2023 Vice-Chair: Joyce Browne

We spoke to ECTMIH 2023 Vice-Chair Joyce Browne this week to find out more about her vision for the congress:

Joyce Browne is a medical doctor and epidemiologist. She currently is an Assistant Professor of Global Health at the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, UMC Utrecht. The persisting global inequities in health are the driving force behind her transdisciplinary research and education. Her work focuses on health equity, maternal health, planetary health and research capacity strengthening. 

She is an experienced educator and course coordinator. She is the Medical Sciences Fellow at UCU and member of the Education Committee of the MA Medical Humanities.

Joyce's academic and societal activities include memberships of institutional committees, academic/research networks, and WHO advisory committees. She co-founded the Dutch Global Health Film Festival, chairs the Global Health Knowledge Center (NL), is vice-chair of Simavi’s Supervisory Board, and deputy editor of the World Health Federation’s scientific journal Global Heart. 

Some key takeaways from Joyce

The rationale for planetary health as the overarching focus of ECTMIH2023 

Whilst global health puts health equity at the core; this concept no longer goes far enough; looking at the state of the world, we need to consider and incorporate a planetary health perspective - the impacts of climate change, changing ecosystems, biodiversity loss, and its impacts on human health. 

Aspects of the ECTMIH 2023 programme Joyce is most proud of so far

The integration of core values of planetary health such as climate justice, health equity, sustainability into every aspect of planning the congress; this includes moving beyond an exchange of scientific knowledge between peers, to a full dialogue with a much wider and more diverse audience, including policymakers, students and the general public.

What to expect from your visit to Utrecht

Utrecht is a beautiful, green city, with lots of young people and with a vibrant art community. The ECTMIH 2023 team are planning a very special multidisciplinary programme for you, so expect to be surprised, expect to be to receive new insights, expect to have different conversations, expect to go home with a sense of hope. 

Check out the full interview with Joyce here: