SSM ECRs featuring… Hüseyin Küçükali
SSM ECRs featuring… Hüseyin Küçükali!
Hüseyin Küçükali is a Post-doc Researcher at Utrecht University
 | Hüseyin Küçükali Utrecht University Post-doc Researcher SSM member since: 2022 SSM participation: Member Topics of interest: Artificial Intelligence, Behavioural and Systems Change, Exposome |
What inspired you to pursue a career in public health?
In medical school, I noticed that the most common health problems are mostly preventable. It felt very limited to wait in a clinic until people got sick and then try very hard to fix them. I suspected that health behaviours are the key but naively assumed that if people were better informed, it would be enough to keep themselves healthy. I initially got interested in health communication through writing a health column in a youth magazine for a couple of years. I used to think of public health as a boring combination of bureaucratic paperwork and statistical mumbo jumbo and I could not see how it was relevant to saving lives. One day, I attended a seminar by a great public health pioneer, Prof. Mustafa Taşdemir, which profoundly changed my understanding of health. I was especially impressed with the multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder nature of public health. Our relationship evolved into an enriching mentorship and, later, a professional network with other ECRs joining. After being introduced to the concept of social determinants of health, I understood that I wanted to pursue a public health career.
What excites you about working in research now?
My first job was in a local health administration and I’ve worked on various health promotion programs. I always tried to push boundaries and innovate public health practice and my interest in research grew out of this desire for innovation. Still, the prospect of developing knowledge and tools that can enhance prevention efforts excites me the most.
What area of social medicine/public health are you interested in?
I am interested in exposome research, specifically exposures in urban environments and their effect on health behaviours and non-communicable diseases. I often use approaches from data/behavioural/systems science in my research. Another major interest of mine is in commercial determinants of health. Here is a plug to my most recent publication in Nicotine and Tobacco Research: AI for Tobacco Control: Identifying Tobacco-promoting Social Media Content Using Large Language Models.
Can you tell us a bit about a project you’re working on now?
I am currently working on the International Human Exposome Network at Utrecht University. The project aims to improve global research and cooperation on the exposome. My role involves ensuring exposome tools and resources attune to FAIR principles and I am also contributing to the development of a roadmap for future exposome research.
What do you hope this will lead to?
Through enhancing cooperation and collaboration, this project will lead to even more interesting and useful exposome innovation. In other words, better-connected research can help address the complexity of the exposome.
Bonus question from ECR sub-committee: How do you stay motivated during difficult phases of your research?
I see research as a state of mind. It is not only an individual quest but also a team endeavour. So, to me, research is ‘disciplined and shared curiosity’. It is when the research is industrialised, that most of our unpleasant difficulties arise. In such times, I find scientific motivation from religious teachings and I also ask for practical advice and emotional support from my fellow ECRs.
To keep up to date with Hüseyin’s work, find him on LinkedIn.
SSM ECR features is a blog series that celebrates early career researchers. Each month we meet a member we admire, learn more about their work and find out what and who inspires them. To find out more visit socsocmed.org.uk/blog or email ecr.ssm@gmail.com.