Rose-Lima Van Keer

Rose-Lima Van Keer was born on 17 January 1987 in Chertalla, India. She attended high school at Ursulinen Mechelen, where she graduated in Latin-Mathematics in 2005. In 2009, Rose-Lima obtained her Master’s degree in Sociology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. In 2011 she obtained her Master’s degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology (option: Migration, Minorities and Multiculturalism) also at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. From 2011 until 2013 she worked as a teacher in a multi-ethnic high school in Brussels, Atheneum Anderlecht. At this school she was also responsible for the development and implementation of the truancy policy, in the context of a subsidized pilot project of the Brussel Capital Region (PPS: Programma Preventie Schoolverzuim). In 2013 she started working at the Mental Health and Wellbeing Research Group (MENT) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. At MENT she wrote a doctoral thesis about communication and decision making in critical medical situations in hospital within the context of an increasingly multi-ethnic patient population. Her PhD research consisted of 2 studies: 1) a long term ethnographic fieldwork study in an intensive care unit of a multicultural hospital in Belgium and 2) a survey study among intercultural mediators working in hospitals in Flanders and Brussels (Belgium). Her PhD research resulted in 11 academic publications in international peer reviewed scientific journals, including 6 research articles in English, the publication of a doctoral thesis, a chapter in the book ‘Top 5 contributions in Critical Care and Emergency Medicine’ and an article in the ActualCare Magazine of ZorgAnders, the biggest media company of the Belgian healthcare sector. She also presented her research at different national and international conferences.  Her PhD research was supported by the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen (FWO). She obtained her PhD degree in 2019. During her PhD trajectory she used to work as a volunteer at Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen where she contributed to a social project regarding the socio-economic integration of young refugees in Flanders and Brussels.

Currently she is involved as a post-doctoral researcher in the IGenCare study, an interuniversity study (VUB-ULB) about healthcare delivery to patients with rare genetic diseases. For this study she is conducting a survey study among staff of all the 8 genetical centers in Belgium as well as an ethnographic study in a Belgian genetical center. This study is sponsored by Innoviris. She also guides bachelor, master and PhD student with quantitative and qualitative research projects in the domain of social health sciences and is also involved in writing academic project proposals in this domain, in collaboration with national or international partners. Additionally, she occasionally teaches qualitative research methods (e.g. ethnography) to university students and is member of several networks on diversity and/or healthcare, e.g. Brussels Interdisciplinary Research Center on Migration and Minorities (BIRMM) of Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Workgroup Diversity of Kom op Tegen Kanker and European Public Health Association (EUPHA). She is also reviewer for scientific journals and organizations, including British Medical Journal Open and European Public Health Association.

Her main research interests include: mental health and wellbeing, healthcare, migration, cultural diversity, inclusion/equal opportunities, and vulnerable groups (e.g. youth, the elderly, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities).