Health Bridge
Health Bridge: Health Diplomacy Institutional Network for Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea Region connects universities and experts to strengthen cross-border cooperation and advance evidence-based health diplomacy. The network promotes professional development, research collaboration, engagement with policymakers, and integration of Ukraine’s crisis-driven innovations to build a healthier, safer, and more resilient region.
Health Bridge: Health Diplomacy Institutional Network for Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea Region
Our mission: to advance a healthier and safer Baltic Sea and Eastern European region by fostering dialogue, strengthening cross-border cooperation, and building a robust platform that brings together universities and experts to monitor health risks and develop expert, evidence-based recommendations for policymakers at local, national, and regional levels.
Areas of work
Professional development: A central objective of Health Bridge is to empower the next generation of scholars. The network is designed to grow through the active engagement, ideas, and leadership of its participants, with priorities and activities shaped collectively over time.
Collaboration with Ukraine: Strengthen health diplomacy expertise among Ukrainian academics and policymakers and integrate lessons from Ukraine’s crisis-driven health system innovations into broader regional frameworks.
Engagement: Another goal of Health Bridge is to cultivate sustained cross-sectoral dialogue, bringing together ministries, NGOs, and healthcare institutions to advance evidence-based diplomacy that strengthens health resilience.
Research: Health Bridge plans to develop its research priorities in collaboration with network members.
Membership
Health Bridge welcomes institutions and individuals committed to advancing health diplomacy in the region:
- Members: representatives of universities and academic institutions
- Associate members: representatives of hospitals, NGOs, governmental bodies, and other relevant organizations
About the initiative
The Health Diplomacy Institutional Network for Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea Region is established as part of Health Bridge: Towards a Healthier and Safer Region – Bridging the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe in a Health Diplomacy Network – an international project funded by the Swedish Institute. The initiative is coordinated by Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) in partnership with the University of Latvia, Bogomolets National Medical University, and National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (Ukraine).
The project’s main aim is to strengthen regional cooperation through the creation of the Baltic and Eastern European Health Diplomacy Network — a platform that connects researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to exchange experience, build capacity, and promote evidence-based health policy.
Activities
Throughout the project and to support the creation of the network, participants will be able join a program of online seminars and one in-person meeting, beginning with introductory sessions on health diplomacy, evidence-informed negotiation, and the geopolitical challenges shaping regional health. A special focus will be placed on two “Learn from Ukraine” seminars, where experts will discuss practical lessons from responding to the war, from crisis communication and emergency preparedness to sustaining public health under extreme conditions.
The project will also adapt key global health diplomacy competencies to the broader regional context, drawing on real-world case studies from the Russian–Ukrainian war and other health challenges relevant to participating countries. In parallel, a research strand will examine priority challenges facing regional health systems and gather insights from decision-makers using an evidence-based behavior and risk-perception tool.
Project Team
Advisory Board
Professor Tobias Alfvén
Specialist Physician, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska InstitutetProf. Tobias Alfvén leads the Global Child Health and Sustainable Development Goals team at the Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet. He also heads the research network in global health and infectious diseases at Sachs' Children & Youth Hospital. Additionally, he co-chairs the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Health (CESH), a collaboration between Karolinska Institutet and Makerere University. Furthermore, he serves as the Chair of the Swedish Society of Medicine and the chair of Agenda for Health and Prosperity.
Professor Olesya Hulchiy
Prof. Olesya Hulchiy is a leading Ukrainian expert in public health and health policy with more than three decades of experience in medical education and international academic cooperation. Prof. Hulchiy represented Ukraine in the Standing Committee of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe and was a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Council of Europe Committee of Bioethics. For 19 years she has collaborated closely with Karolinska Institutet, coordinating international research and training initiatives. From 2025, she will act as Co-Principal Investigator of Health Bridge, aimed at advancing global health diplomacy across the Baltic Sea and Eastern European region.
Professor Ingrīda Rumba-Rozenfelde
Prof. Rumba-Rozenfelde is a Latvian physician and scientist, serving as a Professor at the University of Latvia. She is a leading expert in pediatric rheumatology and has significantly shaped medical education in Latvia as a long-standing Dean. Her research focuses on paediatric chronic and autoimmune diseases, such as Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and diabetes, as well as medical education. She is involved in international collaboration through the PRINTO network and currently studies pediatric obesity and quality of life in children.
Project Lead Team
Nina Viberg
Associate Professor Nina Viberg is the focal point for The Global Health Diplomacy Institutional Network. She is a licensed pharmacist and holds a PhD in Medical Sciences. She serves as a researcher and teacher at the Department of Global Public Health and as a Project Coordinator at the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Health at Karolinska Institutet (KI). Nina has extensive experience from the area of health policy and governance as well as evidence-based policy making. She has served at different levels of the Swedish health system including, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR), The Swedish Agency for Health and Care Services Analysis, and the Ministry of Health. At the Ministry, Nina had the position of National Focal Point for antimicrobial resistance and of coordinator within the government offices of matters regarding vaccines against Covid-19.
Kostyantyn Balashov
Dr. Kostyantyn Balashov is a medical doctor and public health researcher specialising in health communication, crisis response, and health system strengthening. He serves as Senior Lecturer at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine and has led institutional communication and digital health initiatives, contributed to master’s and PhD training programmes, and participated as an expert in the WHO Europe–guided Joint External Evaluation on risk communication.
His current focus is on addressing the health system consequences of the war in Ukraine, strengthening resilience, and ensuring equitable and unrestricted access to comprehensive rehabilitation services.
Marta Dumanska
Marta Dumanska has a Medical Degree from Lviv National Medical University and a Master’s in Health Economics, Policy and Management from Karolinska Institutet. She acts as a Research Assistant at the Department of Global Public Health (KI) and a Project Coordinator at ReAct Europe, leading a project on support for antimicrobial resistance mitigation in Ukraine.
Contacts
Marta Dumanska – marta.dumanska@ki.se
Kostyantyn Balashov - kostyantyn.balashov@gmail.com
Nina Viberg – nina.viberg@ki.se