YEREVAN, Armenia — A delegation comprised of faculty, full-time researchers, students, and alumni from the Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian College of Health Sciences (TCHS) and the Avedisian Onanian Center for Health Services Research and Development (CHSR) of the American University of Armenia (AUA) presented nine research projects at the 18th European Public Health Conference held in Helsinki, Finland from November 11-14.
The AUA TCHS and CHSR team included Anya Agopian, Ph.D., Anahit Demirchyan, M.D., (MPH ’99), and Lusine Aslanyan (MPH ’18). Ten Fogarty fellows (Anna Mkrtchyan, Zaruhi Arzumanyan, Anna Tamerian, Armine Barkhudaryan, Gayane Hovhannisyan, Karineh Sharian, Mamikon Hovhannisyan, Nazeli Galstyan, Ruben Stepanyan, and Tatevik Arevikyan), who are students and alumni from the Armenia-U.S. Collaboration to Address Chronic Disease via Education in Social Determinants Science (ACCESS) project, joined the TCHS team. ACCESS is a partnership between TCHS and the George Washington University (GWU) Milken Institute School of Public Health.
With around 3,000 delegates from 88 countries in attendance, the conference created an excellent, thoughtful space for public health collaboration, allowing public health researchers, experts, and policy makers from around the world to network, share cutting-edge research, and suggest solutions for improving public health strategies and policies under the theme “Investing for sustainable health and well-being.” Presentations covered important topics, including exploring the potential for transforming economies for planetary health and wellbeing, overcoming challenges in public health related to era of misinformation and disinformation, protecting youth mental health and well-being, tackling political and commercial determinants of health through policy and governance, promoting behavior change for healthy ageing, and overcoming health inequities globally.
The TCHS/CHSR delegation presented and showcased pitches, poster walks, and displays on the following studies:
- Family planning in conflict-affected settings: findings from a frozen conflict zone (Agopian)
- Child health outcomes and care-seeking in a frozen conflict: results from a household survey (Agopian)
- Factors linked to posttraumatic stress disorder in Nagorno-Karabakh refugees residing in Armenia (Muradyan)
- Prospective study of self-rated health and its determinants among tuberculosis patients in Armenia (Demirchyan)
- Bridging Healthcare Gaps in Armenia: Lessons from the Entrepreneurs in Health Project (Lylozian)
- Resilience and its determinants among forcibly displaced adults from Nagorno-Karabakh (Aslanyan)
- Correlates of Health-Related Quality of Life Among Forcibly Displaced Adults from Nagorno-Karabakh (Hayrumyan)
- Adherence to Treatment for Non-Communicable Diseases in Rural Armenia: A Qualitative Study (Atanyan)
All abstracts were published in the European Journal of Public Health, Volume 35, Issue Supplement 4, October 2025.
Fogarty fellows also participated in the Young Researchers’ Forum, a special pre-conference event organized by the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) and the European Public Health Association (EUPHA). The Forum is designed for postgraduate students, early career researchers, and their supervisors, and is tailored to provide a supportive atmosphere for students to present their work, as well as learn from and network with each other.
Fogarty fellow and recent alumna, Anna Mkrtchyan (MPH ’25) was selected to present an abstract she had submitted based on her MPH thesis project, titled “Age and insurance status are associated with the stage at diagnosis among breast cancer patients in Armenia.” Her research was fully supported by the ACCESS project, under the supervision and co-authorship of Dr. Tsovinar Harutyunyan (MPH ’99) of TCHS and Dr. Mandi Pratt-Chapman of GWU.
Fellows gained insights into the global health challenges and concerns by attending presentations on the impact of social determinants and commercial determinants of health, as well as talks addressing mental health in vulnerable populations, sustainability, and innovative public health practices incorporating artificial intelligence. The conference offered them the chance to interact with international experts, researchers, and public health professionals from the European Region and beyond, and learn directly from their work. They also attended sessions on how to captivate and persuade key stakeholders and policymakers using research-based evidence.
“It was very inspiring to be surrounded by people who are committed to advancing public health and to witness the range of research conducted in other settings. It just made me realize how much is possible to do in Armenia. We are grateful to the Fogarty Program, and to Dr. Berg and Dr. Petrosyan, for giving us the opportunity and support to be exposed to the world of public health on such a global scale,” said Karineh Sharian, Fogarty fellow and second-year MPH student.
The participation of the Fogarty fellows was supported by the ACCESS project. The TCHS team expresses gratitude for the partial scholarships provided by the conference organizers, the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation, and the AUA Professional Development Grant, which made TCHS’s participation in the conference possible.
The AUA Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian College of Health Sciences works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of health professionals to be leaders in public health, nursing, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.
