Jacques Wels
FNRS Research Fellow (Tenure), director of HRSU
Publications
ResearchGate
Personal website
Email
Bio: I am a quantitative sociologist interested in the association between employment, work, social protection and mental and physical health. I have worked from many research institutions including the World Bank, the University of Cambridge and University College London. My work mainly aims to identify the causal relationship between employment transitions and changes in workers’ physical and mental health including subjective self-measurements of health and objective health measurements considering both workplace environments and social protection in different contexts. Most of my studies focus on the United Kingdom, Japan, Belgium and the United States and I am also particularly interested in the cross-national comparison of longitudinal data. My work is at the crossroad between social sciences, public health, public policy, economics and epidemiology.
Natasia Hamarat
Researcher (FNRS-MIS)
ResearchGate
Email
Bio: I am a medical sociologist specializing in the study of chronic illnesses, with a focus on their medicalization and politicization. My master research explored collective mobilizations within cancer patient associations, while my PhD examined decision-making processes at the end of life, particularly regarding euthanasia. My expertise also encompasses occupational health issues, with a focus on public policies that support the professional integration of people living with mental health conditions. With a strong background in qualitative methods, I have extensive experience conducting participatory action research and evaluating health and social interventions. Additionally, I have taught medical sociology, particularly to healthcare professionals, as well as qualitative data analysis.
Juan González Hijón
Phd Student (FNRS-MIS, 2025-2028)
Publications
ResearchGate
Email
Bio: My name is Juan González-Hijón. I hold a biology degree from the University of Alcalá de Henares, a Master’s in Neuroscience from the Complutense University of Madrid, and a Master’s in Biostatistics and Bioinformatics from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. I worked as a Research Assistant at Karolinska Institutet on projects related to COVID-19 and mental health. I am currently a PhD student at the Health & Society Research Unit, Université Libre de Bruxelles, where I contribute to the UHealth project, examining how unionization trajectories relate to physical and mental health, well-being, and sociocultural factors using longitudinal cohort data and advanced statistical models.