Vlatka is HEAL’s Senior Science Policy Officer, leading HEAL’s engagement in the EU funded research projects ENBEL (Enhancing Belmont Research Action to support EU policy making on climate change and health) and UBDPolicy (Urban Burden of Disease Estimation for Policy-making) project. She joined HEAL in 2014, focusing on the health impacts of coal and fossil gas energy in the EU and Western Balkans.
Before joining HEAL, Vlatka worked on health issues for various organisations, including for the Croatian Public Health Institute, the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases and CARE International. She also volunteered for HEAL’s Croatian partner organisation Green Action (Friends of the Earth Croatia).
She is the author of numerous publications including An early coal phase-out in the Western Balkan can save lives, improve health and strengthen the economy (HEAL 2022); False fix: the hidden health impacts of Europe’s fossil gas dependency (HEAL 2022); Just transition for health protection – Why disease prevention and zero pollution need to be at the heart of energy investments (HEAL 2020); and various scientific articles such as The European response and transformation towards healthy energy (European Journal of Public Health, 2022), Energy transition as a challenge for public health (European Journal of Public Health, 2017), Citizens4sciences approach in monitoring air quality and personal exposure to PM2.5 (ENV.net Conference Proceedings, 2017), Health Experts’ voice for Healthier Choice – a call for Zero Air Pollution in the Western Balkans (European Journal of Public Health, 2022), among any others.
