Dr. Olga Zayts is an interdisciplinary scholar who draws on her dual training in applied (socio)linguistics and public health to research healthcare communication. Since the beginning of her academic career, she has conducted research in different healthcare settings, including genetic and genomic medicine and counselling, dental education, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), cancer clinics, end-of-life care, and most-recently mental health. She has published widely on topics related to communication between nurses, clinicians and migrant patients, health literacy (specifically, in genetic counselling and dental education contexts), inter-professional communication, and communication skills training that draws on sociolinguistic methods, among other topics.

Currently, Dr. Zayts leads the Research and Impact Initiative for Communication in Healthcare, HKU (HKU RIICH), where she also serves as the Founding Director. Her research group investigates cutting-edge topics in healthcare through interdisciplinary lenses of (socio)linguistics, social sciences and public health. Her research projects place emphasis on inter-professional dialogue, multicultural and multilingual awareness and real-world impacts and are conducted in close collaboration with public and private healthcare institutions, non-profit voluntary groups, and local and international business organizations.

For the latest development of Dr. Zayts’ research project, please visit Graduate Mindmap (graduatemindmap.com).