Hana is a medical doctor by background. She is currently a second-year psychiatric resident and a research associate at the Clinical Center University of Sarajevo.

Tell us about your involvement with the study, ie which aspects have you been working on? 

I've been working as a research assistant as a part of the Bosnian IMPULSE team since November last year, so I joined Emina to work on sustainability and reach, which includes paper publications and other aspects of dissemination.

What about yourself outside work - what do you like to do in your free time? 

I like to take walks in nature, watch sports or just watch great thrillers. 

You are also involved with the NIHR Global Health Research Group, could you tell me about your involvement in this? 

I've been involved in NIHR Globe for more than 3 years now, and I'm really thankful for this experience, since it got me much closer to the scientific and research work, but also got me a chance to meet amazing psychiatrists and researchers from different backgrounds.  Considering that social context is something that our wellbeing depends on, I've been really drawn to research that tries to discover more about psychosocial interventions. 

What drew you to psychiatry and/or mental health research? 

I've always been interested in the magnificent work of the human brain, and with my background in medicine, so psychiatry made a perfect match for me. And having a chance to do research and try new treatment methods in the context of my country definitely opens new horizons. 

What do you think are the biggest barriers and/or facilitators to improving mental health research and/or clinical practice in the region/ B&H?  

From my experience, barriers are probably similar to the once in the other LMIC, there is a lack of the staff and financial resources, focus on the medication treatment,  but on the other hand, I believe we still have other resources to use, such as volunteers, preserved concept of family, that we've explored in the NIHR Globe project from which I've published my first author paper for the first time which you can read here : https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-effectiveness-of-volunteer-befriending-for-the-Sikira-Jankovi%C4%87/baa2ca8db17589fc5d7bc25a92d6eb23e2e1c1c6

Would are the challenges of being a researcher/ psychiatry resident and what helps you overcome these, how do you stay inspired and motivated?

Similar thing with work in psychiatry and research is that you usually cannot see immediate results, and that is one of the challenges, but it also teaches us to be patient. For me, it's always been important to have a good team that you can be able to talk to and that is something that can inspire me and keep me motivated. Also, the coronavirus pandemic was a big challenge for me.  It was hard to live with all restrictions, away from people, in constant anxiety about your own and your family's health. It has also slowed down some of our research work and made our meetings online.

What is the best part of your work? 

The best part of my work is definitely seeing that people like the interventions we're researching, but also it is such a great feeling to see the paper published!