Nothing for us without us: understanding Migration Through Public Health Lens

In this episode of Across Borders - Peste Hotare, Anatolie Cosciug speaks with Dr. Tala Al Rousan, Professor of Public Health at UC San Diego and Founding Director of the Displacement and Health Research Center, about what it means to treat migration and displacement as core public health realities, not peripheral crises.Speaking from her experience as a clinician, epidemiologist, and global health researcher, Dr. Al-Rousan connects humanitarian practice with rigorous research, including why evidence on refugee health interventions remains surprisingly scarce, and how community-based models can close critical gaps in care. The discussion also reflects on Romania’s evolving migration context, framed through academic collaboration and practical lessons transferable across countries.Key topics covered:Dr. Al-Rousan’s trajectory from Jordan and Cairo to public health research in the United StatesWhy she is in Romania now, and what the iCreate and Erasmus collaboration reveals about migration contextsThe evidence gap in refugee health, and why intervention research has lagged behind needThe role of the Displacement and Health Research Center in building actionable scienceA randomized clinical trial in an all-refugee cohort, using community health workers to improve medication adherenceLessons from humanitarian response, including reflections on Médecins Sans FrontièresHow to scale what works across settings, including potential replication in Romania