Team

Maria Pascale

Founder

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 that 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 Ph.D. 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 Romanian society towards a more inclusive view of mental health by normalizing 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 at 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.

Every year, we welcome new volunteers to our team! Follow us on social media to find out when the next recruitment period begins.