Dr. TIINA VAITTINEN (PhD) is the PI of the project. She is presently a Senior Research Fellow at Tampere University Faculty of Business and Managament. She is a political economist and transdisciplinary social scientist, who is specialised in mapping complex global political economies of health and social care, from the micro-level of everyday life to the macro-level of international and transnational politics. This requires leasning about the phenomena under scrutiny across disciplinary boundaries, translating between different professional jargons, and finding common ground(s) for conversation. She’s a bit lazy at updating her personal websites, LinkedIns and CVs and such. You can, however, read about Tiina’s past doings here. Sometimes, the list is up-to-date. Together with Anna Rajala (see below), Tiina also (co)authors articles under a joint alias Annastiina Rajala-Vaittinen.
Dr. EVELIINA ASIKAINEN (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in the Tampere University of Applied Sciences. She worked in the project from September 2020 to May 2021, as a co-investigator in the work package that focuses on the pad as waste, and the possibilities of future circular economy. Eveliina’s contribution to the project was made possible by the Kone Foundation grant, and she continues to collaborate with the project in the form of coauthoring, for instance.
Dr. CHRISTOPHER CHATTERTON (PhD), worked in the project as a Postdoctoral Researcher, from November 2019 until November 2020, looking at experiences of living with incontinence. His work with us was enabled by the Kone Foundation grant. Presently, Chris works with a charity led project called “The Pad Project UK”, which co-incidentally has a similar name to our project. The two projects are not connected however. Chris still keeps in touch with us, and we look forward to future collaborations.
TUULIA LAHTINEN (RN, MA) is a (self-funded) PhD Candidate in Public Health. Her PhD thesis is a mixed-methods study, where she researches the barriers and solutions to the prevention and treatment of post-partum incontinence in Finnish maternal clinics. Tuulia worked in the project as research assistant in 2021-22, assisting the project in data collection. She also conducted her MA thesis research as part of the project. In her thesis in Nursing Sciences, she surveyed the public pad provision practices in Finland, comparing regional differences and inequalities in prescription quality and access to the products. Tuulia continues to collaborate with us in the form of coauthoring. Tuulia is also Registered Nurse and Public Health Nurse by training, and has professional experience in public services responsible for the provision of continence products and other medical supplies.
DR ANNA I. RAJALA (PhD) is Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Research Fellow, who leads her own project on the politics of defecation in Tampere University Faculty of Social Sciences, and collaborates with the Pad Project on joint articles and papers. Anna is a physiotherapist by training, and holds a master’s degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics of Health (UCL, 2013) and a PhD in Humanities (University of Brighton, 2021). Her PhD thesis is a philosophical criticism of physiotherapy ethics through the work of the German critical theorist Theodor W. Adorno. In her previous postdoctoral research she explored physiotherapy discourses on dementia, economy, and politics, and the ‘affective politics of statistics’ in dementia research. Her interest in pads and (in)continence stems both from her clinical experience and research interests, which include philosophy, politics and ethics of health and illness, medical humanities, continental philosophy, and political economy. Together with Tiina, Anna also (co)authors articles under a joint alias Annastiina Rajala-Vaittinen.
DR MINNA TÖRNÄVÄ (PhD) is doctor of Health Sciences, specialist in sexological counselling and a pelvic floor physiotherapist. She collaborates with the Pad Project as a co-author of articles. Minna is a clinical expert of incontinence and other pelvic floor disorders, and is interested in the prevention and early intervention of these conditions. In addition to the Pad project, she works on various research projects on sexual and reproductive health.