1994- present:
Research on mental health and illness.
This research has several sub-projects: older persons in nursing wards and geriatric wards of mental hospitals; culture and psychosis/schizophrenia; immigrants and mental health.
 
1994-2004:
Research on eating disorders (specific: anorexia and bulimea).
Key-concepts of this research are power,control and the body.
 
2000 - 2005:
Older persons, health, trauma, remembrance and intergenerational relationships. South Africa.
 
2000 - 2005:
Research on health care facilities, accessibility and discrimination in the Netherlands. This research is part
of a European (five countries) study.
 
2004 - present
Theories of medical anthropology, in particular in Southern Europe and Latin America.
 
2003 - present:
Improving health care access and management through eLearning for family doctors in Latin America.
 
2005 - present:
Refugees and health
 
Supervision and PhDs:
1997-2002:      Research 85+ project (co-promotor PhD candidate Margaret von Faber), research on the oldest old (Leiden).
1998-1999:      Research on drug users and heroin (Municipal Health Service Amsterdam, together with Ewald Witteveen)
2000-2003:      Research on asylum seekers and mental health (Making sense of Experience, VGZ)
2001-2007       PhD research on culture and psychosis (project of the Regional Mental Health Care of Rotterdam, Ferdinand Thung and Lisette Oliemeulen)
2002-2003       Research on Infertility and IVF, University of Vienna, Austria (Bernhard Hadolt and Monica Lengauer)
2002-present   Research Violence and trauma of female refugees (Marian Tankink)
2002-2006       Research on General Practitioners and refugees (Titia Feldman)
2002-present   Research on older people and AIDS, Tanzania(Josien de Klerk)
2002-present   Research on Finnish farmers and suffering, Finland (Susanne Adahl, University of Helsinki)
2002-present   Research on immigrants and lower backpain (Emanuel Scheppers, Ideal project)
2004-present   Intercultural education, Andrea Kuckert, HvA/AMC
2003-present   Ecuadorian immigrants and health, Arantza Menanchez, Universidad Roviri i Virgili, Tarragona / Spain(co-promotor, promotor Josep Maria Comelles)
2002-2006      Chronicity, Gitte Wind, University of Aarhus, Denmark (supervisor)

Projects with external funding

Institutional care for mentally handicapped people with psychiatric problems, IPSER, Delft, The Netherlands (1998).
 
International expert meeting Chronic illness, Amsterdam, financed by NWO (Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research), 1999.
 
Health for All, All in Health, (European Union, Employment and Social Affairs DG), joint project Spain, Italy and The Netherlands (2000)
 
Health for all, All in Health, (European Union, employment and Social Affairs DG), joint project Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden (2001).
 
Building and action group against discrimination by health care services (European Community Action Programme to combat discrimination 2000-2006
 
Giving voice to the lives of older people in South Africa. The value and contribution of older persons in Cape Town to the “new society”. SANPAD 2001.
 
Translation of PhD thesis “Wanderers, ‘Bricoleurs’ and Strategists”, (Dutch-English), funded by the Dutch Scientific Organisation (NWO), published at Routledge.
 
Research on memory and trauma among older people, South Africa; fieldwork financed by WOTRO in 2002
 
Improving Health Care Access and Management through eLearning for Continuous Professional Development of Family Doctors in Latin America. European Union 2003
 
An analysis of factors associated with primary and secondary victimization in child rape: establishing a basis for victim empowerment and practical change to policy; University of Natal, Durban, South Africa and University of Amsterdam (Sanpad 2004).
 
Street children, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa (Sanpad 2004)
 
Theories of Medical Anthropology, fieldtrips financed by NOW in 2005