New Guest Researcher: Umit Tleshova
We look forward to welcoming Umit Tleshova as a visiting researcher at the Centre for Research on Pandemics & Society (PANSOC) at Oslo Metropolitan University from April 25th to May 30th, 2025. Umit is a PhD student at the Department of Demography and Geodemography at Charles University in Prague. Her research focuses on mortality inequalities, particularly in the WHO European Region, examining life expectancy trends, gender gaps, and the impact of governance on health outcomes.
Umit’s academic journey is deeply rooted in demography and public health. Her article, co-authored with Dr. Klára Hulíková Tesárková and Prof. Dagmar Dzúrová, “Decoding Life Expectancy Gaps: A Long-Term Decomposition Analysis of Three WHO European Region Country Groups,” was recently accepted for publication in Taylor & Francis, Cogent Social Sciences Journal. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of life expectancy trends and their decomposition across different country groups within the WHO EUR, introducing a novel statistical methodology and contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) on health and well-being. Her second study, “COVID-19 Mortality Data and Level of Democracy in Post-Communist Countries: Data Sources and Accuracy,” examines the relationship between governance and the accuracy of reported COVID-19 mortality data. During her Master’s program, Umit conducted field research in Nairobi, Kenya. This research focused on engaging with social enterprises and analyzing economic challenges faced by females in developing economies, further shaping her interest in demographic and public health disparities.
At PANSOC, Umit aims to collaborate with leading researchers to explore the intersection of pandemics, socioeconomic disparities, and governance. She is particularly interested in contributing to the centre’s mission to reduce social inequalities (UN SDG Goal 10), eradicate poverty (Goal 1), and ensure good health for all (Goal 3). Engaging with PANSOC’s interdisciplinary discussions, webinar series, and collaborative research environment, Umit looks forward to further refining her work on mortality inequalities and their broader implications for public health policy.
Contact: tleshovu@natur.cuni.cz, umit.tleshova@gmail.com