Professor Karin Diaconu | Staff Profile

Research Lead

Division: Institute for Global Health and Development

Professor Karin Diaconu (PhD, MSc, BA) is the Research Lead in the Institute for Global Health and Development.

Overview
Research Interests
Research Publications
Funded Projects
Teaching & Learning

Professor Karin Diaconu is Professor of Health, Systems and Society and Research Lead at �鶹��madou’s Institute for Global Health and Development, where she also plays a leadership role as Doctoral Programme Coordinator.

Her research examines how social, political, and health systems can mobilise to improve health and wellbeing, particularly in fragile or shock-prone settings. Drawing on complexity science, health sciences, and the social sciences, she focuses on applied research that addresses the real priorities of local communities, health professionals, and policymakers. She works in close partnership with these stakeholders, centring their experiences and perspectives to co-develop solutions that are equitable, sustainable, and contextually grounded.

Karin’s projects, funded by organisations including the Wellcome Trust, FCDO, WHO, and UNHCR, have influenced global debates on resilience and priority-setting. She is especially interested in intersectoral and transdisciplinary initiatives that link health with education, social protection, and other sectors, while recognising societal values and preferences. Her work spans diverse health areas, including tuberculosis, non-communicable diseases, and mental health.

Alongside her research, Karin is a committed teacher and mentor, supporting students, practitioners, and policymakers worldwide to apply participatory and systems approaches in their own work.

Professor Karin Diaconu’s research explores how health systems can be redesigned to become true “systems for health”—moving beyond healthcare delivery to address the wider social, economic and environmental factors that shape people’s wellbeing. Her work focuses on how policies and interventions can operate across sectors, bringing together health, education, social protection and other systems to improve outcomes in more holistic and sustainable ways. A central theme of her research is ensuring that these approaches are equitable and grounded in the realities of the communities they aim to serve.

She has a particular interest in how complex interventions are implemented in real-world settings, especially in contexts affected by fragility, inequality and rapid change. Using participatory and systems-based approaches, she examines how interventions can be adapted, scaled and sustained, while also strengthening trust, accountability and local ownership. Across her work, she seeks to bridge research, policy and practice—supporting the design of health systems that are not only effective, but also inclusive, responsive and empowering for the populations they serve.

Current projects

Refugee health care, integration and resilience

This project is examining evidence from global evidence and six country case studies to draw lessons on whether and how to integrate refugee health care into national health systems. This work was commissioned by UNHCR and feeds into important global debates on management of forcibly displaced populations.

More about The Health System Resilience, Enhancement and Refugee Response Project.

Past projects

A Household Yeast Sensor for Cholera

NIH – Grant supporting development of novel cholera biosensor:

This work supports colleagues at Columbia University in the development of an innovative product for cholera surveillance and explores the product’s adoption, impact and cost-effectiveness when used in humanitarian- and low-resource settings.

System resilience in UNRWA health provision to Palestine refugees displaced by the Syria crisis (Health Systems Resilience)

This research will focus on the key vulnerabilities of UNRWA health systems in the face of disruptions associated with the displacement of Palestine refugees registered in Syria (PRS).

This research project is funded by Elrha’s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) Programme which aims to improve health outcomes by strengthening the evidence base for public health interventions in humanitarian crises. Visit for more information.

The R2HC programme is funded equally by the Wellcome Trust and DFID, with Elrha overseeing the programme’s execution and management.

Find out more about Health Systems Resilience

Results4TB: Designing and evaluating provider results-based financing for tuberculosis care in Georgia: understanding costs, mechanisms of effect and impact

This 4-year project will help design a pilot results-based financing (RBF) scheme with Georgian policy-makers and programme managers, examine its impact and cost effectiveness and give further evidence to RBF and TB programming around the globe.

Find out more about Results4TB

Karin is actively involved in teaching on global health research methods and health technology assessment and priority setting.

�鶹��madou

Research Lead

IGHD Honorary Staff (and other useful information)