Prof. Dr. Irina Catrinel Crăciun studied psychology in Romania and gained her first experiences of Freie Universität Berlin as a doctoral student in health psychology there. After receiving her PhD, she participated as a researcher or project manager in several international projects on preventive health care, including a project sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the health-related behavior of Romanian school children. Prof. Dr. Irina Catrinel Crăciun was also an Assistant Professor at Babes-Bolyai University in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca. Her inaugural lecture at Freie Universität Berlin will be based on her last project, a project sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation that ran at Freie Universität Berlin in 2012-2014 on “Resources for Positive Aging”.

In addition to her inaugural lecture, Irina Catrinel Crăciun will be offering an introductory tutorial on qualitative research methods in gender studies and health communication. On November 26, 2015, Professor Crăciun will be holding a lecture during the International Research Colloquium followed by a panel discussion, an event which was organized by the Interdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies (IZG) and the Center for the Promotion of Women's and Gender Studies (ZEFG).