Workshop Coordinators
Dr Petya Eckler, University of Strathclyde, petya.eckler@strath.ac.uk
Petya Eckler, PhD, is a lecturer in journalism and creative writing at University of Strathclyde. She conducts research in health communication through social media and electronic word of mouth; international and strategic communication. Lately, Eckler has looked into the relationship between Facebook and body image, tobacco coverage in American newspapers, how American hospitals use social media, etc. She has worked with domestic violence NGOs in America on creating campus-wide awareness campaigns against dating violence and on graduate research on the topic. Her work has appeared in the journals Women & Health, Journal of Community Health, Health Communication, Journal of Interactive Advertising, etc. Her professional experience prior to joining academia includes working as an assistant editor, managing editor, health writer, reporter, and copy editor in the United States and Bulgaria, and a public relations coordinator in Bulgaria.
Prof. Dr E. Nezih Orhon, Anadolu University, nezihorhon@gmail.com
Prof. Dr E. Nezih Orhon, PhD, is an academic at Anadolu University in Turkey. Orhon was the vice-dean of the Faculty of Communication Sciences at Anadolu University in 2009-2011 and the dean of the faculty in 2011-2014, where he is currently a full-time professor. Orhon has been serving in the Faculty of Communication Sciences since 1994. He has been part of health communication projects with the Ministry of Health, Turkish Diabetes Foundation and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and he has worked on projects related to vulnerable groups and humanitarian issues in relation to health and communication.
Mentors from the UK
Ann Donaldson, University of Strathclyde, ann.donaldson@strath.ac.uk
Ann Donaldson is a knowledge exchange fellow at Strathclyde University working on the Equally Safe in Higher Education Project in the School of Social Work and Social Policy. Since 2000, she has specialised in domestic abuse and violence against women (VAW) research, policy, service provision and teaching, especially in relation to Scotland. During that time, she has carried out a number of research activities with service users and providers, developed and managed new specialist services for women and children experiencing domestic abuse, including counselling and advocacy services and CEDAR (children experiencing domestic abuse recovery), implemented a VAW prevention education project in schools and youth settings, established and coordinated the work of the local multi-agency VAW partnership, and led the local VAW training programme. She was also the Community Planning Monitoring Officer for VAW within the local Single Outcom Agreement. She was chair of the Clyde VAW Training Consortium 2004-2008 and chair of the National VAW Network 2014-2015. She is also a writer and an award-winning journalist.
Lee Knifton, University of Strathclyde and Mental Health Foundation, lee.knifton@strath.ac.uk
Lee Knifton is the co-director of Strathclyde’s Centre for Health Policy (CHP) and head of the Mental Health Foundation for Scotland, where he leads the policy, research, programmes and external relations team. At Strathclyde, in addition to establishing the CHP, his focus is upon health policy and public health equity, combining research and knowledge exchange in Scotland with major international collaborations with the World Health Organisation, Yale University, New York University, Illinois Institute of Technology. This work has a particular focus upon stigma, discrimination, rights and citizenship, including the advancement of community-based participatory research. He is deputy editor of the Journal of Public Mental Health, co-editor of the book Public Mental Health: Global Perspectives, and director of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, an annual event which reaches 100,000 citizens.
Mentors from Turkey
Prof. Dr R. Ayhan Yilmaz, Anadolu University,rayilmaz@anadolu.edu.tr
Prof. Dr R. Ayhan Yilmaz, PhD, is an academic at Anadolu University in Turkey. Presently she is a full-time professor at the Communication Sciences Faculty. She specialises in advertising and public relations. She holds an MA in Communication Sciences and PhD in Advertising. She has been in the teaching profession for more than 26 years. Prof. Yilmaz has been part of health communication projects and national health campaign projects.
Assoc. Prof. Dr D. Alper Altunay, Anadolu University, alperaltunay@gmail.com
Associate professor D. Alper Altunay, PhD, is an academic at Anadolu University in Turkey. He is currently the chair of the Cinema and Television Department of the Faculty of Communication Sciences since 2014. He has been serving in the Faculty of Communication Sciences since 1994. He has been part of health communication projects with the Ministry of Health and Turkish Diabetes Foundation. Altunay holds the Best Health Communication Campaign Award of Turkey for 2013 with Prof. Dr Nezih Orhon. He also coordinates other projects related to health communication with Prof. Orhon. In 2017, Altunay and Orhon coordinated a health communication project related to Alzheimer’s Disease.