Corinna Glasner

Corinna Glasner, Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention
Scientific Project Manager of the INTERREG projects EurHealth-1Health and health-i-care

“Aletta who?!” That was my first reaction, the moment I heard about the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, before checking this incredible woman out on Wikipedia. And it was not the first time that I did not know about a very important female historical person. An incredible woman; Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs. She was the very first woman to attend a Dutch University and the first female physician in the Netherlands. The year was 1871. Looking at my own life now only 150 years later, in terms of evolution a blink of an eye ago, I never had to question the things Aletta had too: I could go to school, I could study what I wanted to study (biology in my case) and I could do my PhD. No questions asked. And therefore, I am so grateful for all the woman that have fought in all those years for our rights and equality (and still do!). Like feminism, also health was an obvious concept for me my whole life. I never had to question the right health support when I – or anyone of my family members or friends - needed it. Although I am very prone to little accidents, I always healed and received the care I needed in a very good and fast fashion. I never actually consciously thought about these concepts as a child or teenager, but as I grew older, traveled a lot, met many new people and cultures, it opened my mind to a different world. The real world ....

My name is Corinna Glasner. I live in a world where little microbes matter, the world of medical microbiology and infection prevention, the world of human health. Health is such a natural concept for people who have lived their whole life in the developed Western world. But it has become a special good that we have to protect and work hard every day to properly sustain it, not only here but all around the world. In my opinion, one of the biggest threats to human health are resistant bacteria and in turn the ‘human’ usage of antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is a social cultural problem, one that concerns everyone. Independent of who you are, where you live, what you do for work or in your leisure time, in which god you believe in, or if you are a woman or a man. And because of this, we all have to work together to solve this problem: Across any man-made border, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary. I believe that the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health can create the space that people need to work together on the goal for more healthier years. I am happy to be part of this. I am proud to continue the great work that Aletta has started 150 years ago.