Susan Dierickx

Biography

Since August 2020, Dr. Susan Dierickx is coordinator of RHEA Centre of Expertise on Gender, Diversity and Intersectionality at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Susan is an accomplished social science researcher with extensive interdisciplinary research expertise in low- and middle-income countries.

Susan holds a keen interest in:

- sexual and reproductive health and rights

- maternal health

- reproductive justice

- health seeking behaviour Sub-Sahara Africa

Susan completed her joint-PhD in Gender and Diversity at the VUB and Ghent University (2015-2020). As part of her doctoral research, she designed and implemented an interdisciplinary research project on infertility in The Gambia and Senegal. From 2013 to 2015, she worked as a social scientist at the Medical Anthropology Unit at the Institute of Tropical medicine. During this time she was responsible for the design and implementation of several research projects on malaria and maternal health in The Gambia, Benin and Burkina Faso.

She holds a bachelor in Sociology (Ghent University), a master in social and cultural anthropology with a specialization in African studies (University of Leuven) and an advanced master in development studies (Ghent University). During her bachelor, she spent a year as Erasmus student at the University of Paris X Nanterre, Department of Sociology. As student she conducted several qualitative research projects on people with a disability in Belgium, and alternative forms of tourism in Ghana and Jordan.

Alongside academic research, Susan has been teaching several courses on gender, sexuality and development and giving workshops on qualitative and mixed-method research within public health in Europe, Sub-Sahara Africa and South-East Asia.

Research Expertise: sexual and reproductive health and rights, maternal health, reproductive justice, health seeking behaviour, medical anthropology, qualitative research

Research Methodology: qualitative and mixed methods research