About us

Prof. Dr. Merike Blofield

I am Professor of Political Science with a focus on global health and social policy. The enduring question my research addresses is: when and how do governments produce more equity-enhancing policies? With a focus on Latin America, I have analyzed policy areas that intersect social, health, family, gender and labor policy. 

I was born and raised in Finland, and earned my undergraduate and Masters’ degrees at York University in Canada. I completed my Ph.D. at UNC-Chapel Hill, in the United States. I have had the fortune to live in many cities (and five countries) across the Americas, and my daughters were born in São Paulo, Brazil. I moved back to Europe after many years as a professor at the University of Miami, and now live in Hamburg, Germany.

See here for full CV.

 

Stephanie Stövesand (Assistant)

I studied Spanish Philology and Translation at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) and at the Instituto Universitario de Lenguas Modernas y Traductores (IULMyT). After ten years in Madrid, I returned to Hamburg, where I worked at the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies from 2000 to 2023, before moving to the University of Hamburg in September 2023 to assist Merike Blofield.