Dr. phil. Samira Barbara Jabakhanji

Dr. Samira Barbara Jabakhanji (PhD) is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine at the Mannheim Institute of Public Health at Heidelberg University. Samira holds a BSc degree in European Public Health and MSc in Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Management from Maastricht University (Netherlands). She started her research career as a junior policy advisor working at Emric+ in Maastricht, before she joined the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland University of Medicine and Health Sciences to conduct her PhD and postdoctoral research in epidemiology and health economy.

Samira’s main fields of expertise are planetary health and sustainability, and early childhood obesity. In relation to her obesity research, Samira has been a committee member of the Association for the Study of Obesity on the Island of Ireland, and she has co-founded the Obesity Cobweb (COllaBoration in health economic modelling of overWEight and oBesity). The latter is an international multidisciplinary network promoting obesity simulation modelling, with Prof. Diana Sonntag from Medical Faculty Mannheim working as their chair, and Samira as their secretary.

Additionally, Samira has conducted research in the areas of cross-border emergency care, quality improvement in healthcare, and cost analysis of healthcare interventions. She has experience in qualitative, quantitative and health economic research and likes conducting literature reviews.

Research Interests

• Planetary health and climate change

• Urban resilience and healthy city development

• Obesity, in particular childhood obesity

• Social determinants of health and health inequalities

• Nutrition and healthy lifestyle

• Holistic prevention and healthcare, female health, public mental health

• (Access to) education and knowledge transfer; health literacy and ecoliteracy

• Global health

Selected Publications

Jabakhanji SB, Arnold SR, Aunan K, Chersich MF, Jakobsson K, McGushin A, Kelly I, Roche N, Stauffer A & Stanistreet D. Public Health Measures to Address the Impact of Climate Change on Population Health-Proceedings from a Stakeholder Workshop, Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(20), 13665. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013665

Jabakhanji SB, Boland F, Ward M & Biesma R. Prevalence of early childhood obesity in Ireland: A longitudinal investigation of differences over time, between sexes and across child growth criteria, Pediatric Obesity. 2022; e12953. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12953

Horgan NF, Cummins V, Skelton DA, Doyle F, O’Sullivan M, Galvin R, Burton E, Sorensen J, Jabakhanji SB, Townley B, Rooney D, Jackson G, Murphy L, Swan L, Warters A & O’Neill M. Enhancing Existing Formal Home Care to Improve and Maintain Functional Status in Older Adults: Results of a Feasibility Study on the Implementation of Care to Move (CTM) in an Irish Healthcare Setting, Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(18), 11148. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811148

Jabakhanji SB, Sorensen J, Carney RM, Dickens C, Dempster M, Gallagher J, Caramlau I & Doyle F. Depression interventions for individuals with coronary artery disease – a cost-effectiveness calculation from an Irish perspective, J Psychosom Res. 2022; 155:110747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2022.110747

Jabakhanji SB, Sorensen J, Valentelyte G, McElroy B, Burke L-A & Murphy A. Assessment of healthcare costs based on self-reported data in Ireland: A scoping review, Health Econ Rev. 2021; 11:35. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-021-00330-2

McCarthy S, Jabakhanji SB, Martin J, Flynn MA & Sorensen J. Reporting standards, outcomes and costs of quality improvement studies in Ireland: a scoping review, BMJ Open Qual. 2021; 10. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2020-001319

Jabakhanji SB, Mealy A, Glynn A & Sorensen J. Modeling the impact of obesity on cost of hip and knee arthroplasty, Ann Epidemiol. 2021; 54:1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.10.006

Jabakhanji SB, Boland F, Ward M & Biesma R. Body mass index changes in early childhood, J Pediatr. 2018; 202:106-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.06.049

Jabakhanji SB, Pavlova M, Groot W, Boland F & Biesma R. Social class variation, the effect of the economic recession and childhood obesity at 3 years of age in Ireland, Eur J Public Health. 2017; 27:234-239. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckw235

Jabakhanji SB, Meier TM, Ramakers-van Kuijk MA, Brink PR, Andruszkow H, Krafft T & Pape HC. Agreements and Practical Experience of Trauma Care Cooperation in Central Europe: The "Boundless Trauma Care Central Europe" (BTCCE) project, Injury. 2015; 46:519-524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.injury.2015.03.001