Elsi Haverinen-Mottaghi, Co-Lead
Elsi Haverinen-Mottaghi, MHSc, MHc, RN
Senior Lecturer on global health, Doctoral Researcher
Elsi Haverinen-Mottaghi is a health care professional with both clinical and academic background. She started her career as a registered nurse gaining experience from global settings, but further educated herself in Public and Global Health (MHSc) and Global Health Development and Management (MHc). Elsi has previously worked in research and is currently working as a senior lecturer at the Laurea University of Applied Sciences teaching Global Health. Her areas of interest are environmental health, global health policies and health in emergencies.
Ann Spitalny Bacon, Co-Lead
Ann Spitalny Bacon has over two decades of experience caring for women and children as a maternal/child, pediatric, and neonatal nurse. Since 2017, she was worked as a school nurse and health educator in international schools in Qingdao, China, and Helsinki, Finland. Her focused interest is in creating and delivering accessible, age-appropriate, and evidence-based Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) curriculum to young people. She is currently studying for her MSc. in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is proud to be a member of the co-leadership team of WGH Finland to advocate for gender equality in Finland, the EU, and globally and improve gender transformative leadership in global health.
Miia Halonen, Co-Lead
Miia Halonen, MHSc
Doctoral Researcher, University of Oulu
Miia has a background in public and global health and experience from health promotion projects in Finland and abroad. Her current research interests include exposome research and bio-psychosocial and environmental modeling of type 2 diabetes. Miia is involved in the teaching and coordination of the international Master´s Programme in Epidemiology and Biomedical Data Science at the University of Oulu. As part of the Women in Global Health Finland, Miia is excited to build a network of women supporting each other and developing global partnerships with other country chapters to achieve gender equality.
Lynda Gilby, Gender Equality Advisor
Lynda Gilby, MHSc, BMI
Doctoral Researcher, Tampere University
Lynda Gilby spent 8 years working in healthcare in New Zealand and the UK. After completing a Master’s in Public and Global Health, her doctoral research looks at the opposition to sexual and reproductive health and rights in international forums, and the challenges this creates for achieving UN targets on gender equality and universal health coverage. She is also the Gender Equality Advisor to Women in Global Health Finland, aiming to bring together stakeholders to build strategies to counter the opposition and advance gender equality and access to health services.