Alumni webinar #1 Global Research Prize 2026 - Mohamed Elzemety

Background

This new series of ITM alumni webinars features the three ITM winners of the Prize for Global Research 2026. The Prize for Global Research is awarded yearly by the Province of Antwerp to research projects of master-after-master students of ITM and other Higher Education Institutes. Development relevance, quality, and originality of the master theses are key in the selection. Through this award, the Province of Antwerp wants to stimulate global research.

In webinar #1, MPH alumnus and laureate Mohamed Elzemety (Egypt) will share insights from his master's thesis, entitled 'Negotiating Access to Healthcare for Migrants in Precarious Legal Status in Selected SWANA Countries: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis'. In his master’s thesis, Mohamed examined how access to healthcare is produced and negotiated for migrants with precarious legal status across South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA). Using a Critical Interpretive Synthesis, he reviewed and integrated evidence from 47 scientific and grey literature sources to develop a new theoretical understanding of healthcare access for this particular population.

Building on the established 'candidacy' framework, he demonstrated that access to care is not simply determined by legal entitlement or individual barriers, but emerges through interactions between migrants, healthcare providers, institutions, and broader political and structural conditions. His work resulted in a refined conceptual framework that shifts the focus from individual barriers to the structural processes shaping access, offering an important contribution for both policy development and future research.

In this webinar, Mohamed will present the main findings and outcomes of his thesis, and discuss his recommendations and conclusion. The Q&A session, moderated by his thesis supervisor Joris Michielsen (Unit of Complexity and Health), will address questions from the audience.