Team

Maria Pascale

FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Maria studied physics at Cambridge, and then continued with a master’s in neuroscience at University College London. Becoming more aware of the lack of dialogue about mental health in Romania during her undergraduate abroad, she founded the NGO hoping to contribute to creating an environment which is more open to accepting and solving mental health issues.

Dan Mirea

PROJECT COORDINATOR

Dan graduated from Cambridge, then worked for almost 2 years in psychiatric research, and is now a PhD student in psychology and neuroscience at Princeton. Through his activity, Dan wishes to help people better understand their own mental health and have better access to sources of help, while addressing the shortcomings in the field of mental health research in Romania.

Ionela Solniță

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR

Ionela graduated from the Faculty of Letters in Craiova, and is currently working as a content writer. She became interested in mental health after going through her own experiences with anxiety disorders. She joined the project because she wants to contribute to normalizing conversations around mental health and creating a safe space for those dealing with mental health issues.

Teodora Herțanu

PR COORDINATOR

Teodora works in marketing and communication in Denmark. She spends her free time in different programmes where she tries to give back to the community – mentoring, tutoring English, and lately volunteering for Mental Health for Romania. She has faith that only through support and a tight community we can develop ourselves and overcome difficult times.

Larisa Dinu

PODCAST COORDINATOR

Larisa completed a BSc in Psychology, and a Master’s in Psychiatric Research at King’s College London, and is now doing her PhD in psychology and neuroscience at King’s College London and University College London. She wishes to contribute to a better understanding of mental health difficulties and take an active role in developing psychological research in Romania.

Maria Martinuț

LEGAL COORDINATOR

Maria finished her LLM studies in Human Rights Law at the University of Groningen. She believes that there is a pressing need to shift the perception of the Romanian society towards a more inclusive view on mental health by normalising the dialogue on this matter and promoting a unified understanding of health. 

Diana Iorga

OUTREACH COORDINATOR

Diana studies medicine at Transilvania University in Brașov, being fascinated by the way both the body and the human mind work. She joined the Mental Health for Romania team with the desire to remove the stigma surrounding the concept of mental health. Through her work in schools, she wants to help students understand what mental health is, and how important it is.

Ioana Tonceanu

RESEARCHER

Ioana graduated from the University of Glasgow with a degree in Psychology and went on to complete an Erasmus Mundus master’s in educational policies, which enables her to investigate the effectiveness and relevance of socio-emotional interventions in schools. She joined the team to promote mental health and the use of scientifically validated methods for cultivating self-regulation.

Denisa Savastin

DISCORD MODERATOR

Denisa is a student in the 11th grade at the Jacques M. Elias Technological High School in Sascut and is majoring in Economics. She is passionate about reading, writing and photography. She joined the Mental Health for Romania team because she likes helping those around her and learning new things about everything mental health related.

Alessia Achim

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Alessia is currently an architecture student at UIC Barcelona. She joined the initiative because, having lived with eating disorders and depression, she wanted to directly raise awareness of mental health issues and the support available in Romania. She has a passion for helping people and does her best so that everyone feels safe with her.

Andrei Stamate

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Andrei studies communication and public relations at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication within the University of Bucharest, and spends most of his free time cultivating his interest in graphic design. He joined the NGO as he wants to help build up this community in which people can talk freely about their problems.

Maria Pascale

FOUNDER

Maria studies physics at Cambridge in the UK and hopes to specialise in neuroscience in the future. In high school she became aware of the lack of dialogue about mental health in Romania, and ever since she had wished to contribute to creating an environment which is more open to accepting and solving mental health issues.
Dan Mirea

PROJECT COORDINATOR

Dan graduated from Cambridge in 2019, then worked for almost 2 years in psychiatric research, and is now starting a PhD in psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University. His main research interest is understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying mental health problems. Through his activity, Dan wishes, first and foremost, to help people better understand their own mental health and have better access to sources of help and, second, to address the shortcomings in the field of mental health research in Romania.
Larisa Dinu

PROJECT COORDINATOR

Larisa’s background and training is in Psychology. Following her BSc in Psychology, Larisa completed a Master’s in Psychiatric Research at King’s College London. With more than three years of experience in psychiatric research in London, Larisa has recently started her interdisciplinary doctoral degree in psychology and neuroscience at King’s College London and University College London. Larisa wishes to contribute to a better understanding of mental health difficulties and take an active role in developing psychological and neuroscience research in Romania.
Maria Martinuț

LEGAL OFFICER

Maria finished her LLM studies in Human Rights Law at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and is interested in exploring the relationship between mental health and the rights of those dealing with psychological and psychiatric disorders. She believes that there is a pressing need to shift the perception of the Romanian society towards a more inclusive view on mental health by normalising the dialogue on this matter and promoting a unified understanding of health.
Roxana Solniță

pr COORDINATOR

Roxana studies Translation and Terminology at the University of Craiova, and is also passionate about psychology. She joined the project because she believes the lack of information is the main cause for the existence of stigma surrounding people with mental disorders, and because she wants to contribute to creating a society where people could emphasise more with those with a diagnosis.
Diana Baciu

FUNDING COORDINATOR

Diana studied law at Babeș-Bolyai University în Cluj-Napoca. She believes that law is a dynamic field, and her interests centre around the role played by civil society members in the process of applying legal norms. At Mental Health for Romania, her main activity is securing necessary funds for continuing and improving our work.
Andreea Goia

RESEARCH

Andreea is a 12th-grade high school student at the International Computer-Science High School of Bucharest. Andreea has a strong interest in science - she has been studying physics since 6th grade, and during high school she also developed an interest in neuroscience and psychology. She dreams of combining her interdisciplinary interests as a future medicine student. The decision to volunteer at Mental Health for Romania was influenced by her past experiences with contests and olympiads, as she wanted to help others who are going through difficult periods due to academic pressure.
Irina Ioniță

EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS

Irina is enrolled in two Master’s in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Studies, at the University of Bucharest. In the future, she wants to become a psychotherapist as well as an organisational psychologist, helping groups develop and work together. Irina is passionate about theatre, comedy and working with children. She joined MHR because she wants to bring a change to the way mental health is perceived in Romania, being a strong believer that mental health is just as important as physical health.
Bianca Boancă

SECRETARY

Bianca studies psychology in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, at the University of Bucharest. She chose psychology out of curiosity and a desire to find out what goes on inside our heads. She joined the Mental Health for Romania team because she wants to help as many people as possible to understand the importance of mental health, a topic still treated superficially in our society. In the future she wants to work with children with special educational needs.
Alessia Achim

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Alessia is currently a 12th-grade high school student in Sibiu and is applying to study architecture abroad. She joined the Mental Health for Romania initiative because, having had lived experiences with eating disorders and depression, she wanted to directly help raise awareness of mental health issues and popularise existing options for getting help among people in Romania.
Andrei Stamate

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Andrei studies communication and public relations at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication within the University of Bucharest, and spends most of his free time cultivating his interest in graphic design. He joined "Mental Health for Romania '' as he wants to help build up this community in which people can talk freely about their problems.
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