The baby box research team focuses on the ways the maternity package concept has been adapted to meet local needs around the world. The research group is led by Dr. Annariina Koivu. The team members come from different academic fields and backgrounds.
Members
Annariina Koivu
Principal Investigator
Annariina has MSc in Global Health and Public Policy from the University of Edinburgh and PhD in Global Health from the Trinity College in Dublin. Her multi-disciplinary academic background combined with NGO and professional work experience have taken her to live in six different countries across the globe, including South Africa. Besides social innovation in maternal and child health, she is interested in a broad variety of topics within health systems strengthening, social protection and holistic health information systems. Annariina has expertise in qualitative and transdisciplinary research.
Yen Phan
Researcher
Yen focuses on the rights of the child and the practical parts of program implementation, including challenges and good practices. She is a pharmacist from Vietnam with an academic background in pharmacy and global health.
Jad Abuhamed
Researcher
In the Baby Box project, Jad focuses on maternity package in refugee settings. He is a medical doctor from Syria interested in child health research.
Ella Näsi
Researcher, Press Officer
Ella focuses on the health education materials, which are often included in the baby boxes. She is also focusing on the various ways that the baby box programs are promoted to the potential beneficiaries, the funders and the policy makers. Ella is a communication specialist by background with experience from health communication, conference promotion and management.
Brittany Perry
Visiting Researcher
Brittany is a visiting researcher from the University of South Florida on a grant from the Fulbright Finland Foundation from 2019-2020 interested in global and public health.
ADVISORS
Professor Meri Koivusalo
Professor Emerita Anneli Milén
Associate Professor Salla Atkins