Profile
Elifnaz-Yalcindag

Elifnaz Yalcindag

PhD Researcher in International Relations and Teaching Assistant
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Spoken languages
Turkish, English, French, Korean

phd thesis

 

Title: Unraveling Social Imaginaries: How does the Enmeshment of the WHO and Gates Foundation Shape Global Health Governance?

PhD Supervisor: Annabelle Littoz-Monnet

Expected completion date: 2026

Elifnaz Yalcindag’s research project aspires to explore co-constitutive interactions between the WHO and the Gates Foundation, investigating the co-production of social imaginaries within the entanglements of these two global health actors by adopting an interpretivist approach. The main objective is to contribute to understanding the co-production process of practices by different type of actors in global governance, with a particular focus on the role of philanthropic actors in global health governance.
 

Profile
 

Elifnaz Yalçındağ is a PhD researcher in International Relations and Political Science at the Geneva Graduate Institute, where she also serves as a Teaching Assistant. Her research focuses on the dynamics of global governance, with a specific interest in the role of philanthropic and international organizations. She holds an MA in International Relations from Koç University, where her master’s research investigated informal practices in global health governance, and a bachelor’s degree with honors from Middle East Technical University. Her academic journey also includes an Erasmus exchange at the University of Leeds. Elifnaz’s research background is strengthened by her work as a teaching and research assistant at Koç University and internships with Türkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Turkish Parliament, and the Ministry of Economy.

Her current project explores the co-constitutive interactions between the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation. Through an interpretivist approach, she examines how these actors co-produce social imaginaries within global health governance, particularly focusing on the practices shaped by philanthropic involvement. This work aims to contribute to the understanding of how diverse actors collaboratively shape governance practices in the global health arena.
 

Publications and Works


Work Experiences

  • Teaching Assistant · Geneva Graduate Institute (Sep 2024 - Present) 
  • Research and Teaching Assistant · Koç University (Oct 2020 - Sep 2022)
  • Research Assistant (part-time) · Emerging Market ERC Stg Project (Sep 2021 - Jul 2022) 
  • Intern · Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey (Jan 2020 - Feb 2020) 
  • Intern · Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkish Parliament/TBMM) (Jul 2018)
  • Intern · Ministry of Economy, Turkey (Jun 2018)
     

Affiliations
 

Global Health Center
 

ACADEMIC  EXPERIENCES


Research and Teaching Assistant in Koç University (September 2020 - June 2022)