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EPICentre鈥檚 Alessandro Massazza passes PhD viva focusing on mental health among earthquake survivors
27 November 2020
Alessandro Massazza, a doctoral student working with Prof. Helene Joffe and Prof. Chris Brewin in the Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, has passed his PhD viva this week.
We are delighted to announce that Alessandro Massazza has passed his PhD with minor corrections this week. Alessandro鈥檚 PhD focused on mental health among the survivors of the 2016-2017 Central Italy earthquake sequence, with a particular focus on the town of Amatrice.听Throughout his PhD he听investigated the thoughts, feelings, and听behavioural reactions that survivors experienced during the earthquakes and how these impacted their memories of the events. A better understanding of people鈥檚 reactions during earthquakes can provide important insights for disaster risk reduction听and response, for example in terms of how to plan evacuations.
He is currently working as a research fellow at the London School of听Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as part of the CHANGE consortium. He will contribute to the development and testing of a brief听transdiagnostic intervention to听address alcohol misuse and associated听mental health problems among populations affected by armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and northern Uganda. He is also working as a consultant in the Department of Mental Health and听Substance Use at the World Health Organization where he is involved in the development of a minimum听services packages for mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian听contexts.听
Alessandro has many fond memories of working and travelling with EPICentre members and looks forward to continuing to contribute to the centre in the future.
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Papers from Alessandro鈥檚 work in Amatrice:
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Contact details
Email: alessandro.massazza@lshtm.ac.uk
Twitter: alemassazza