Projects per year
Personal profile
Research expertise
Advancing the realist evaluation, research and review methodology, transdisciplinary heuristics and analytics grounded in complexity science and pluricausality, comparative case study design, applied to sexual and reproductive health policy and programmes, health policy and programmes.
I have more than 20 years of experience working in research and programme management related to health governance and sexual and reproductive health and rights in LMIC, working for UNFPA, European Parliament, Enabel and MSI before starting my academic career. I am currently working on creating a Realist Lab at ITM .
Teaching expertise
I have been the course leader and lecturer of the advanced MscPH course on health policy analysis and governance at ITM.
My other teaching assignments include:
-Course leader and lecturer of health policy and systems research methdologies at ITM (Msc Public Health, 2015-2019)
-Lecturer of MPH course modules "qualitative methods" and "social sciences in health" at ITM (MPH, 2008-2011)
-Course coordinator and lecturer "strategies, governance and policy-making in global health" at Sciences Po Paris, School of International Affairs and "International Cooperation in Health" (24h); Fall semester 2015, Spring 2017, 2018 and 2019.
-I am currently teaching at VUB.
I have been conducting workshops on realist evaluation for international organisations and NGOs for 10 years now.
I am coaching PhD students on the use of realist evaluation, review and research for sexual and reproductive health issues, health policy and systems.
Services expertise
Programme evaluation, realist evaluation, governance analysis, health policy analysis
I conduct workshops and lectures on realist evaluation and implementation research. I led programme formulation, implementation and evaluation assignments and research on health governance and sexual and reproductive health policy for organizations (WHO, Enabel, GIZ, ICRC,...) I have been a member of several Technical Advisory Groups advising on Realist Evaluation.
Education/Academic qualification
Public health, PhD, Accountability in sexual and reproductive health.How relations between INGOs and state actors shape public accountability – a study of two local health systems in Ghana, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
2009 → 2014
Award Date: 1-Jun-2014
Public Health, Postgraduate DLSHTM, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Award Date: 1-Jun-2009
Political Science / International Relations, MA, Ghent University
Award Date: 1-Sept-2000
Cultural Anthropology, MA, Ghent University
Award Date: 1-Sept-1998
Political and Social Sciences, BA, University of Antwerp
Award Date: 1-Jul-1995
External positions
ZAP Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
1-Oct-2025 → …
Honorary Assistant Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
1-Sept-2018 → 30-Dec-2021
Adjunct Faculty, Institute of Public Health
1-Jul-2017 → …
Visiting researcher, University of Antwerp
1-Sept-2015 → 1-Sept-2018
Lecturer, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
1-Jul-2012 → 1-Feb-2013
Senior advisor Governance - institutional strengthening, Belgian Development Agency
1-Apr-2011 → 1-Apr-2012
Programme Manager Ghana -Sierra Leone, Africa and Latin America Team, Marie Stopes International
1-Oct-2007 → 1-Jun-2008
M&E Officer, SRH ACP/EU/UNFPA programme, UNFPA regional office Dakar
1-Dec-2005 → 1-Oct-2007
Policy Officer, European Parliament
1-Aug-2001 → 1-Mar-2004
Member, Research Advisory Board, Institute of Public Health
1-Jan-2001 → …
Research fellow, Faculty Political Science, Ghent University
31-Mar-0001 → 31-Dec-0001
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics where Sara Van Belle is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
-
YoPAAPE: A Youth-centred Preventive Action Approach towards co-created implementation of socially and Physicall activating Environmental interventions ITM develop an intervention theory for the selected interventions + realist evaluation of the whole study.
Van Belle, S., Van Belle, S., Martens, M., Chin A Paw, M. J. M., Altenburg, T., Klaufus, L., Palmeira, A. L., Nunez Silva, M., Draper, C. E., Pawslowski, C. K., Schipperijn, J. & Oyeyemi, A. L.
1/01/23 → 31/12/27
Project: Research Project
-
Accountability and Collective Action in Urban India: How are Socially Marginalized Adolescent Girls and Young Women organized to Negotiate Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR)?
Contractor, S. Q., Marchal, B., Van Belle, S., Nambiar, D. & Ruano, A. L.
1/01/22 → …
Project: PhD-project
-
Saving mothers lives using Responsible AI
Van Belle, S., Belrhiti, Z., Assarag, B. & El Basisy, I.
1/01/24 → 1/01/25
Project: Research Project
-
SCaling Up an integrated care package for diaBetes and hYpertension for vulnerable people (SCUBY): policy analysis and strategy development.
Martens, M., Van Damme, W., Van Belle, S., van Olmen, J., Remmen, R. & Wouters, E.
27/04/22 → 14/01/25
Project: PhD-project
-
JPPP research project: A pilot project to prepare for the Urban health systems, shocks and resilience: what can we learn from COVID-19? project
Marchal, B., Polman, K., Van Belle, S., Verdonck, T., Michielsen, J., Nieto Sanchez, C., Everaert, R., van Olmen, J. & Otero, L.
Flemish Government - Department of Economy, Science & Innovation
1/04/22 → 31/03/23
Project: Research Project
-
Barriers and facilitators to international universal health coverage reforms: a realist review
Farsaci, L., Fleming, P., Caffrey, L., van Belle, S., O'Donoghue, C., Almirall-Sanchez, A., Mockler, D. & Thomas, S., 2025, In: International Journal of Health Policy and Management. 14, 14 p., 8709.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review › peer-review
Open Access -
Context and generalizability in health policy and systems research: a plea for an integrative praxis of theorizing
Van Belle, S. & Marchal, B., 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Health Policy and Planning. 6 p., czaf048.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
Open Access -
Stakeholder involvement in realist evaluation: A scoping review and best fit framework synthesis
Malengreaux, S., Martens, M., Pleguezuelo, VC., Olujuwon, I., Van Belle, S., Renmans, D. & Belrhiti, Z., 2025, In: Evaluation. 31, 1, p. 22-48 27 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
-
A realist evaluation of the implementation of a national tobacco control programme and policy in India
Hebbar, PB., Dsouza, V., Nagelhout, GE., van Belle, S., Prashanth, N. S., van Schayck, OCP., Babu, GR. & Bhojani, U., 2024, In: Health Policy and Planning. 40, 2, p. 140-152 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open Access -
Behavioral change interventions, theories, and techniques to reduce physical inactivity and sedentary behavior in the general population: a scoping review
El Kirat, H., van Belle, S., Khattabi, A. & Belrhiti, Z., 2024, In: BMC Public Health. 24, 1, 36 p., 2099.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open Access