Co-Lead

Jo Vearey (she/her) has a background in public health and her interdisciplinary research focuses on the intersections between migration and health. She is an Associate Professor and Director of the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at Wits University inJohannesburg where she coordinates the Migration and Health Project Southern Africa (maHp).

Jo is an Honorary Researcher at the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Edinburgh, directs the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Centre of Excellence in Migration and Mobility – hosted by the ACMS, and is Vice-Chair of the global Migration, Health, and Development Research Initiative (MHADRI).

With a commitment to social justice, Jo’s research explores ways to generate and communicate knowledge to improve responses to migration, health and wellbeing.  Fundamental to her research practice is participation in policy processes at international and local levels, including exploration of approaches to address epistemic injustice in the development of appropriate policy responses.

This includes participation in a range of World Health Organization (WHO) processes, including leading the WHO-AFRO regional evidence review for the WHO’s first global migration and health report, participation in the development of WHO’s global research agenda on migration and health, and providing technical advice to the development of the WHO’s Refugee and Migrant Health Competency Standards for Healthcare Workers.