Lisa Dikomitis is a Belgian-Cypriot anthropologist and works in global health, migration and refugee studies, health services research and medical education. She was educated in Dutch at universities in Belgium. She holds degrees in Anthropology and Sociology, Education and History of Art. Dikomitis was awarded her PhD in March 2010, worked as postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University in Belgium (2010-12) and at the Hull York Medical School (2012-14). She took up her first permanent position as Lecturer at the University of Hull in March 2014, moved to Keele’s School of Medicine as Senior Lecturer in July 2016 where she was promoted to full Professor in December 2019. She joined the Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS) in January 2022 and took up her appointment as Director of the Centre of Health Services Studies (CHSS) in September 2023.
After completing significant ethnographic work on refugee issues and displacement, Professor Dikomitis expanded her research beyond social anthropology to engage with timely issues in medical anthropology, health services research and global health. Her work is characterised by generating bridges between radically different academic disciplines, in creativity with the arts and genuine community engagement that fosters equity, diversity and inclusion. She published over 80 peer-reviewed publications, including a monograph and edited volumes. Strongly committed to communicating science publicly, she curated several exhibitions and podcasts, and regularly writes for non-academic audiences.
Professor Dikomitis was awarded over £13 million from UK funding bodies, of which over £5 million as lead investigator. This includes funding for research programmes and for research capacity building. Selection of funded research:
- ECLIPSE Co-Principal Investigator (NIHR £4,576,819)
- INTERACT Principal Investigator (AHRC £38,600)
- SOLACE Principal Investigator (AHRC-MRC £199,840)
- THEHOPE Co-Investigator (MRC £873,269)
- RaCeR Co-Investigator (NIHR £249,998)
- STOPS+ Co-Investigator (MRC £564,784)
- Inter-CEPt Co-Investigator (NIHR £1,110,815)
- New anti-leishmanial drugs for Indian Communities Co-Investigator (EPSRC £906,252)
- PROMPPT Co-Investigator (NIHR £2,499,608)
- Remember Me Co-Investigator (AHRC £839,979)
Research areas
Refugee and migration research
Professor Dikomitis conducted long-term ethnographic fieldwork among Greek and Turkish Cypriot refugees on the effects of protracted conflict. This resulted in her internationally acclaimed monograph Cyprus and its Places of Desire: Cultures of Displacement among Greek and Turkish Cypriot Refugees, and several publications, including in Anthropology Today, in When God Comes to Town and in When the Cemetery Becomes Political. She has conducted fieldwork among Polish migrants in Hull (Remember Me) and is member of the CLARENCE team, exploring the experiences of migrants from Central and Eastern Europe with primary care and mental health services in the UK (Health Expectations and BJGP). She is currently leading, with Professor Sukhi Shergill, a research programme on migrant mental health, working closely with communities across Kent.
Global health research
Professor Dikomitis is directing UK-funded programmes of global health research in Brazil, Ethiopia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. This research addresses the social and cultural health determinants, policies and health systems in societies experiencing major social and political change. Research is always carried out in partnership with local communities, NGOs and academic colleagues to improve health outcomes and health equity. Professor Dikomitis led the MRC-AHRC funded SOLACE (SOLACE website,) on public health in remote, rural and coastal areas of the Philippines and currently co-leads ECLIPSE (ECLIPSE website), on cutaneous leishmaniasis. She also leads qualitative and ethnographic work packages on mental health research in Pakistan and leishmaniasis research in India. Dikomitis is lead editor of a Special Issue of Social Science Perspectives in Global Health.
Community engagement and involvement
Dikomitis has pioneered new and transformative ways of conducting interdisciplinary global health research, combining anthropology, development studies and health services research with culturally appropriate and context-bespoke community engagement. For instance, cultural animation in health research (Health Expectations), community engagement in global health research (BMJ and Frontiers in Public Health), co-producing public health guidelines in Brazil (book chapter), patient and public involvement (PPI) in self-harm research (Health Expectations), a decolonial approach to engaging community members (Frontiers in Public Health) and how to embed community engagement in times of crisis (BMJ Global Health).
Health service research
This strand includes research on cluster headache (BJGP, Neurological Sciences, Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, Brain Sciences), mental health (BJGP, British Journal of Psychiatry, EClinicalMedicine by The Lancet), musculoskeletal conditions (Trials, Clinical Rehabilitation, Musculoskeletal Care, BJPG Open, Rheumatology), COVID-19 (BJSW, BMJ Paediatr Open), cancer (Primary Health Care Research and Development, Environmental Research and Development) and on the social production of health policies and institutional neglect (Societies).
Medical education research
Professor Dikomitis conducted a number of high-impact research projects in medical education and published about researching curriculum development (Teaching and Learning in Higher Education), assessments in medical education (Medical Education), anthropology in medical education (Springer Anthropology), palliative care component in medical education (BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care), embedding social and behavioural sciences in the medical curriculum (Societies), about the understanding biomedical uncertainty in medical education (Medical Science Educator) and how to embed ethnography in clinical research (Wiley Blackwell).
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