Michael Plant
​Founder and Director

Michael is a final year PhD student in philosophy at the University of Oxford whose main area of research is on how best to make people happier. He joins the Wellbeing Research Centre, Oxford as a post-doctoral Research Fellow in October 2019. Previously, he was as Peter Singer’s Research Assistant and worked on Hippo, a happiness tracking app start-up.

Justus Baumann
​General Project Manager

​Justus works as the coordinator of the HLI. He has a bachelor's degree in public governance and has interned with the mental health NGO Sangath in New Delhi.

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Communications

Barry Grimes
Communications Manager

​Barry coordinates HLI’s communications and stakeholder engagement. He has worked in strategic communication roles across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors and manages communications for the Effective Altruism Global conferences.

Nikita Patel
Website Manager

​Nikita created and maintains the HLI website. She is currently CEO and Co-Founder of Fortify Health and has previously worked at Malaria Consortium as Communications Officer. She has a BA in French and German from the University of Oxford.

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Research

Brendan Eappen
Research Co-Lead MHI

Brendan works on mental health charity evaluations to find the best mental health charities out there. He is the co-founder of Fortify Health and worked with Partners in Health in Peru on the development of their mental health program. ​

​Jasper Synowski
Research Co-Lead MHI

​Jasper is working on the mental health charity section of the HLI. He has a bachelor’s degree in business psychology and is doing his graduate studies in public health. His focus is on global health with special interests in mental health and pandemic preparedness. ​

Jide Alaga
Positive Education

​Jide has a BA in political science and philosophy at the University of Toronto. He joined HLI as a volunteer researcher in February and is currently working on a report on the impact of positive education interventions on mental health.

Stephan Tegtmeier
Personal Happiness Interventions

​Stephan is researching the scalability and strategies of increasing uptake rates of personal happiness interventions. He has a bachelor's degree in philosophy & economics and wrote his thesis about the importance of happiness. Currently he is working for a happiness journaling app.

​Teis Rasmussen
Careers

Teis works on identifying exceptionally promising careers for increasing world happiness. He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in cognitive science, focusing on affective forecasting and the giving-happiness link. He has experience in animal charity fundraising and think tank research/advocacy on subjective well-being.

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Contributors

Derek Foster

Derek’s academic background is in public health and health economics, with a focus on cost-effectiveness analysis and the measurement of wellbeing. He recently co-authored a chapter of the 2019 Global Happiness and Wellbeing Policy Report, and currently works as a Research Analyst for Rethink Priorities.

​Blanka Havlíčková

Blanka has Ph.D. in behavioral economics and currently works for the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. She is interested in the study of envy, adaptation and social comparison.

Sonia Vallentin ​

​Sonia is currently studying Global Mental Health at King's College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in order to understand how to design and implement interventions that address the mental health treatment gap. She previously studied Music at Durham University and also founded Effective Altruism Durham.

Florian Kuhlmeier

Florian has a bachelor's in business psychology and is currently working towards a master's degree in cognitive science.

Eemaan Thind

Eemaan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics with a minor in Psychology. She is particularly interested in the impact of culture on the mental health experience and treatment of ethnic minorities and underprivileged groups.

Ethan Bialick

Ethan has four years of experience in meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy and is excited about how to increase access to mental health techniques and services.

Lucia Coulter

Lucia is a NHS doctor with a special interest in global mental health and a long term involvement with a number of EA projects and organisations.

 Vanessa See

Vanessa is a research worker on a EU-funded randomised controlled trial on e-mental health. She will be pursuing a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in the coming September.

​Marcin Kowrygo

​Marcin is a neuroscientist interested in the multidisciplinary enhancement of human well-being. With experience as a co-founder of Effective Altruism Poland and LEAN strategy officer for Rethink Charity, he provides the HLI with advice on brain research, strategy and organisational growth.

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Advisors

Peter Singer

Peter is professor of bioethics at Princeton University. He works on practical ethics, and is best known for the book Animal Liberation and for his writings about global poverty.

Peter Brietbart

An advisor and consultant for HLI, Peter is an EA veteran with a background in philosophy, entrepreneurship and project management. Peter is the CEO of anxiety management app Mind Ease.

Julian Jamison ​

Julian is a behavioural development economist with a particular focus on health and welfare analysis. He has a BS in mathematics and a PhD in microeconomic theory, and is currently a professor of economics at the University of Exeter. He also works with the World Bank and multiple governments around the world.

Tatjana Višak

Tatjana Višak is an ethicist and as such mainly interested in issues related to welfare and its promotion. She is currently also doing some practical training in order to be able to help people to flourish. ​