Meet our Advisory Expert Board

The Advisory Expert Board (AEB) plays a crucial role in providing guidance, expertise, and strategic advice to our project partners. It consists of a group of higly competent experts who possess relevant knowledge and experience in the project’s domain. Their role is to advise and support the project in achieving its objectives effectively.

We are honored to have these experts on our AEB, sharing their expertise and wisdom. We would like to sincerely thank all AEB members for their invaluable contributions and commitment.

Andreas Leven, Germany

Dr. med. Andreas Leven, German, medical doctor in Gynaecology and Obstetrics since 1994.
After working 11 years at the University of Witten/Herdecke with long-standig and still continuing engagement in medical education of medical students, he is now head of the department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the Helios Klinikum in Schwelm (near Düsseldorf) since 2006.
Since 2020 he is also praticising in own outpatient practice.
Long-time collaboration with VIPROM partner GESINE including organizing workshops for hospital employees (medical, nursing and administrative staff) on domestic violence.

Chibueze Udeani, Germany

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Ioanna Giannopoulou, Greece

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Ioannis Michopoulos, Greece

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Reka Safrany, Hungary

Réka Sáfrány is President of the Hungarian Women’s Lobby (HWL) and previously served as President of the European Women’s Lobby for two years (2021-2023). She holds an MA in Gender Studies from Central European University, Budapest, and an MA in English and German Literature and Linguistics from ELTE University, Budapest. In her 20 years of experience as a policy and advocacy expert on gender equality, violence against women has been a prominent issue alongside other topics such as women’s political participation and gender and media.
At the European Women’s Lobby, she steered the decision-making of the prominent EU-wide alliance and its lobbying efforts on a wide range of women’s rights issues, while also promoting gender equality in the media and at conferences. At both national and international levels, she has contributed to gender-sensitive research projects, policy analysis on the state of gender equality, and professional and public capacity-building activities.
She has been involved in several academic and NGO-based research projects with a focus on policy analysis and recommendations related to violence against women, particularly in relation to intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual violence, trafficking for sexual exploitation, FGM and women victims of IPV in prisons (e.g. MAGEEQ, MIP, ALTRA and KERET projects). In the EU-funded GenderSensED project, she contributed to the integration of this topic in teacher training. She also currently represents HWL in government-initiated forums on women’s rights and family policy.

Claudio Pagliara, Italy

Director of the Rose Code Health and Gender Medicine Operative Unit Local Health Authority Tuscany South East.
Lecturer on the theme of domestic violence in courses and University Masters programme
Member of the working group of the following Projects of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers: “Donne In Libertà” and “Training of health professionals on first aid for victims of gender-based violence and stalking”.
Component of 2 CCM 2014 projects (National Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health): “A blended training program for health and non-health professionals, aimed at strengthening local networks for the prevention and contrast of violence gender” and “Control and response to violence against vulnerable people: women and children, models of intervention in hospital networks and social-health services in a European perspective – REVAMP
Expert for the Istituto Superiore di Sanità of the FAD “A blended training program for health and non-health workers, aimed at strengthening local networks for the prevention and fight against gender-based violence”.
Scientific coordinator of the CCM 2021-2023 project: “Strategies for the prevention of violence against women and minors, through the training of operators in the health and social-health area with particular regard to the effects of COVID-19” (#HypatiaCCM2021).

Cristina Moscatelli, Italy

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Vittoria Doretti, Italy

Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (O.M.R.I.)
Specialist in Cardiology, Anesthesia and Resuscitation, Expert in Bioethics, Organization of Basic Health Services, and Forensic Sciences (Criminology-Security-Investigations-Intelligence)
Director of Departmental Area Health Promotion and Ethics, Azienda Usl Toscana Sud Est. and also DE&I manager (diversity equity and inclusion manager)
Head of Rose Code Regional Network – Tuscany
She has collaborated and collaborates nationally and internationally with numerous ministries, agencies and institutions in particular on gender policies, actions to combat violence against women, minors and hate crimes.
She has received numerous awards and commendations in Italy and abroad for her work; among her main assignments:
- Adjunct Professor – Department of Health Sciences – University of Florence
- Member of the working group against violence against women and minors and of the working group on gender medicine for FNOMCeO (National Federation of the Orders of Surgeons and Dentists)
- Expert Member for proven and high professionalism of the Technical Scientific Committee of the National Observatory on the phenomenon of violence against women and domestic violence at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers – DPO (2022-2025)
- Scientific Coordinator of the Biennial National Project 2021-23 “Strategies for the prevention of violence against women and minors, through the training of female and male health and social health workers with particular regard to the effects of covid-19” (#Ipaziaccm2021) – National Center for Disease Prevention and Control – Ministry of Health. (Collaboration agreement between the Ministry of
  Health and the Region of Tuscany, underline 4 of the project area – national center for disease prevention and Control (CCM) 2021. Executing Azienda Usl Toscana Sud-Est.)
- Coordinator of the Working Group “Women With Disabilities” of the CTS of the National Observatory on the Condition of Persons with Disabilities at Presidency of the Council of Ministers – at the Indication of the Ministry of Health (until September 2022)
- Consultant of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry about Feminicide, as well as all forms of gender-based violence – Senate of the Republic (until September 2022)
- Expert in the Working Group on Gender Violence – Women20 – Engagement Group of the G20 (2021)

Sarah Fitzgibbon, Ireland

Dr Sarah Fitzgibbon is a GP from Cork in the Republic of Ireland. She qualified from UCC in 2000 and attained membership of the Irish College of General Practitioners in 2006.
In December 2017, she set up the Women in Medicine in Ireland Network (WiMIN) and organised its first conference in Dublin in September 2018.
She is a member of the Deep End Ireland group, which advocates for improved primary care services for people living in areas of deprivation.
Since 2021, she has been the Primary Care Clinical Advisor with CervicalCheck, the national cervical screening programme in Ireland.
She completed a post-graduate Certificate in Medical Education through UCC in 2023.
She is a member of the Patient Liaison Group of the Association of Coloproctologists of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI)
In 2014, at the age of 37, she was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer. She began to write a blog, “Adventures of a Sick Doctor” and she now writes regularly for the Medical Independent.
She is passionate about the delivery of kind, effective and efficient healthcare for all people in Ireland, particularly those who are marginalised.

Maria Eriksson, Sweden

Maria Eriksson is a Professor of Social Work and Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research at Marie Cederschiöld University in Sweden. Her research since the mid-1990s has focused on men’s violence against women, children, and parenthood. She worked at a women’s shelter and has also been involved in higher education, training professionals such as doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists, and social workers on violence against women and children.
Maria’s current research program, in collaboration with local social services, aims to develop a coordinated intervention system for families with children experiencing domestic violence and intimate partner violence (DV/IPV). She has developed training materials for social workers, including a simulation-based course called “court play,” where social work and law students engage in investigations and court hearings related to DV cases.
Maria’s work extends to child protection policies and practices, support and treatment interventions, and family law disputes involving DV/IPV. She has been dedicated to creating a safer society and has trained professionals in the non-medical sector, teachers, police officers, legal professionals, priests, and NGO staff members. Her expertise and commitment contribute significantly to addressing the complex issue of men’s violence against women, children, and parenthood, promoting understanding and effective interventions in these challenging situations.

Rúna í Baianstovu, Sweden

Rúna í Baianstovu is a senior lecturer in Social Work at Örebro university in Sweden. Her research since 2012 has focused on diversity and the transformation of norms in the tension between democratic and authoritarian regimes. Empirically, she has studied the prevalence and expressions of honour-based norms and violence, and the societal mechanisms behind them. Her work is based on an intersectional understanding of the complexity of honour-based violence as a lived reality and as a stereotype, highlighting the importance of awareness about how honour-based violence and the stereotypes influence each other.
In higher education, Baianstovu teaches social work students as well as professionals from various professions in their continuing education. She has a long experience as a practitioner within social work, with expertise on the area of supporting newly arrived migrants in their establishment in the Swedish society, in collaboration with other professions, including nurses and doctors.
Baianstovu’s current research on the mechanisms behind and expressions of honour-based norms and violence is developed towards implementation in practice in close collaboration with The Swedish Association of Local Authorities of and Regions. She is frequently engaged as a lecturer in local authorities’ continuing education programs in the area of honour-based violence.
Baianstovu’s expertise contributes to addressing the complexity of honour-based violence, as practitioners’ insight of this complexity contributes to their ability to provide the right help at the right time.

Felix Michael Schmitz, Switzerland

Felix Michael Schmitz, PhD is head of research at the ASCII department at the Bern University’s Institute for Medical Education in Switzerland.
He is engaged in several research projects that broadly aim to improve undergraduate healthcare training.
His interests are anchored in the areas of breaking bad news, spiritual care, end-of-life care, pain management, coping with stress, and grieving.
He seeks to add sufficiently to the VIPROM project by means of didactics, methods, and evaluation.

Maria Papadakaki, European Public Health Association

Dr Maria Papadakaki is an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hellenic Mediterranean University.
She obtained a first degree in Social Work, holds an MPH and a PhD from the Faculty of Medicine.
She is the President of Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Section of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) since 2020 and Advisory Board member of the European Forum for Primary Care (EFPC) since 2021.
She is currently leading one of the few therapeutic/counseling programs in Greece for perpetrators of family violence as part of penal mediation law, in collaboration with the Public Prosecutor’s office and the Police.
She also offers a counseling program for juvenile offenders since 2019, at monthly basis, in collaboration with the Prosecutor’s office for minors in Heraklion.
She is dedicated to the prevention of intentional and unintentional injuries; active in basic and experimental research on GBV, family and child protection matters; pioneer in community family-centered interventions and family counseling; designed and validated scientific tools and material for use by academic, research and civil organizations on GBV; carried out training for primary care providers on GBV; systematically involved in health policy research regarding primary health care, psychosocial care and family violence; long involvement in EU-funded projects relevant to GBV, aggressive behaviour and the psychosocial health of vulnerable groups (e.g. “Y-SAV”, “COMMUN-AID”, “WOM-POWER”).

Medina Johnson, IRISi

Medina Johnson is Chief Executive and co-founder of IRISi, a social enterprise established to promote and improve the health care response to gender based violence.
Medina has a background in education and training, managed the floating support team for a women’s mental health service and managed a charity supporting single people who are homeless.
She has worked in the violence against women and girls’ sector for 18 years, first as coordinator for Bristol Domestic Abuse Forum and for the last 15 years developing and promoting IRIS programme. IRIS (Identification and Referral to Improve Safety), is a general practice-based domestic violence and abuse (DVA) training, support and referral programme and is running in over 40 areas of the UK. Its sister programme, ADViSE (Assessing for Domestic Violence and abuse in Sexual health Environments) was launched in October 2021.
Medina holds an honorary contract as a Research Collaborator with the Centre for Academic Primary Care at the University of Bristol and participates in national and international research programmes on domestic violence and abuse.
She has co-authored a range of published academic papers including in The Lancet, BMJ and BDJ.
She has been a consultant on a number of European Commission funded programmes to improve the health care response to gender based violence across a range of countries including Romania, Spain and Austria.
Medina is a member of the NIHR ARC West Advisory Board.

Please stay tuned for updates as we work closely with our AEB to achieve the ambitious goals of our EU project.