dr. Lianne Cremers

Lianne (A.L.) Cremers has been conducting interdisciplinary research with high social impact, focusing on human responses to infectious diseases, notably tuberculosis and Covid-19. Her contribution is to enhance understanding of how people respond to complex settings through practices grounded in deep knowledge. For her current postdoctoral research funded by the EU (https://www.heros-project.eu/), she focused on the complexity and unpredictability of the Covid-19 crisis in Europe (the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland, and Hungary). She explores how crisis response policies interfere with daily routines in nursing homes and secondary schools. The study was designed as a multi-country comparison to find successful response mechanisms from each country and see how elements could potentially be translated and adapted to another. Departing from a participatory action research approach, she closely worked with her respondents and used visual and arts-based methods. This resulted in original co-produced datasets both in text and visuals on governance, resilience, and the social experience of organizational trauma and healing. She had the privilege of working with the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control on research about preparedness and response synergies between authorities and the community during disease threats in Europe. The published technical reports and guidance for member states circulated widely since the Covid-19 pandemic. Lianne holds an Msc in Cultural Anthropology and an Msc in Governance. During her interdisciplinary Ph.D., she investigated how tuberculosis patients navigated national tuberculosis programs and experienced disease and care in sub-Saharan Africa (Gabon, Zambia, South Africa).