Journal team

Meet our awesome team at HETI Journal

Editorial team

We would like to extend a warm welcome to the HETI Journal: International Research and Practice team.

Alexandra Stergiou

Editor in Chief

Inês Pereira de Figueiredo

Associate Editor

Emily Kieson

Associate Editor

Carlos Ganzabal

Outreach Co-Ordinator

Editorial advisory board

This board assists and advises the Editorial team for the HETI Journal: International Research and Practice.

Henrika Jormfeldt

Selcuk Akpinar

Sanna Mattila-Rautiainen

Anne Barnfield

Editor in Chief

Alexandra Stergiou

Originally from Ioannina, Greece, Alexandra holds a PhD from the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from the Medical School of the University of Ioannina and is currently a lecturer in the field of Special Education at the University of Western Macedonia of Greece. Her research interest is in the rehabilitation of children with neurological disorders. In addition to this, she has been running her own business at Ioannina Therapeutic Riding Centre in Greece for the last 14 years. Alexandra has served as the vice president of HETI since June 2021 and she is the chair of the Research Committee. She has taken part in numerous scientific conferences and served as a member of organizing and scientific boards. She has also attained and announced many oral and poster presentations at congresses and published numerous articles in international scientific journals. Alexandra also has a certified voluntary experience in an international organization as coordinator of the Region of Epirus, Greece for the development program of Special Olympics Hellas.
Associate Editor

Inês Pereira de Figueiredo

Ines holds a PhD in Neurosciences, from the University of Salamanca, Spain, where she worked for several years as a Researcher in a consortium with the Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y Leon. She has a MSc in Zootechnical Engineering from the University of Evora in Portugal. She earned a special grant on her PhD in “Health”, and a fellowship at INRA, Tours, France, in order to participate in the project “The effects of handling foals on their reactivity and learning”. She has also been the coordinator of research projects in Portugal, at the National Stud Farm, focusing on the effects of Handling Horses in Behaviour, and Human-Animal relationships. Ines is also the author of several research articles focusing on the effects of stress in emotional outcomes and learning, posttraumatic stress disorder and depression-like models. Also, she is a peer reviewer in high impact journals at MDPI. She is currently a collaborator at the Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y Leon, and the Faculty of Veterinary in the Laboratory of Animal welfare and Behaviour. Ines is the Founder and President of TheKidsFellows- a Research Group in Athrozoology, and IAHAIO member. She is also an Academic member of the International Society for Equitation Sciences and Board Member of the Portuguese Society for the Equine Assisted Services.
Associate Editor

Emily Kieson

Emily Kieson (PhD, MS, PgDip) serves as Executive Director at Equine International, a US-based nonprofit focused on research, education, and outreach in the fields of equine behavior, welfare, and equine-human interactions. Her current research focuses on equine affiliative behaviors and social bonding behaviors to study how horses create and maintain social bonds to provide insight into the horse-human relationship. The goal is to use this knowledge to help horse owners build better social relationships with their horses, improve assessment of equine well-being, and improve practices in equine-assisted services. www.equineintl.org
Outreach Co-Ordinator

Carlos Ganzabal

Carlos is a physical education teacher and riding coach. Carlos’s interest in the field all started about 15 years ago while working and studying in the field of equine therapies (hippotherapy and therapeutic riding). He started as a volunteer and collaborated with different riding centers, to build up his professional career. During which time Carlos had the opportunity to collaborate with different professionals in the field of therapeutic riding including Scientists, Doctors, Educators, Coaches). Carlos is passionate about playing and learning through out games and finding creative ways to solve challenges . Carlos states that ‘being part of the HETI Journal team as the Outreach coordinator is a thrilling opportunity to encourage scientific research and share with the world about human-equine interactions from all possible paradigms, and bringing the opportunity to develop creative ways of understanding and gaining knowledge in the field.

Henrika Jormfeldt

Henrika is responsible for Specialist Nursing Education with a focus on psychiatric care at Halmstad University and a representative for School of Health and Welfare at the university’s Research Ethics Council (FER). She is the project manager of the HUT research project, which develops and evaluates “Equine-Assisted Therapy” for children, adolescents and adults with mental illness. Henrika also holds positions as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Health & Well-being and as Associate Editor of the journal Issues in Mental Health Nursing. Henrika is the Chairperson of IFSAP Halmstad ( Association for Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses) and a member of the Board of Horses in Education and Therapy International (HETI).

Selcuk Akpinar

Prof. Selcuk Akpinar is presently employed at Nevsehir Haci Bektas Veli University within the Faculty of Sports Sciences, serving as a Dean. His academic journey began with the completion of his bachelors degree with honors (attaining the first rank position) at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University. Initially designated as a Physical Education Teacher by the Ministry of Education, he fulfilled this role for a duration of two years. Pursuing further education, he pursued a masters degree at Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, where he transitioned into a research assistant position. Subsequently, he pursued his doctoral studies at Middle East Technical University, with a focus on motor learning and control studies. During this time, he undertook a visiting scholar role at Penn State University in the United States for a year and a half, followed by a six-month post-doctoral position. At Penn State, he contributed to research in a motor control laboratory, investigating the impact of sports training participation on motor lateralization. Upon completing his doctorate, he relocated to Nevsehir and was promoted to the position of Associate Professor by the Higher Education Council of Turkey in December 2017. Further recognition followed, as Nevsehir Haci Bektas Veli University elevated him to the rank of full professor in February 2023. His involvement in Equine Assisted Services dates back to 2013, with active participation in Erasmus+ Projects in this field and ongoing research endeavors. Additionally, he serves as the assistant principal of the Horsemanship-Horseback Riding Application and Research Center at Nevsehir Haci Bektas Veli University. Prof. Akpinar’s scholarly contributions extend to respected international journals, particularly in the realm of equine-assisted services. He has cultivated numerous international collaborations and maintains a diverse network of colleagues worldwide. His primary research interests encompass motor lateralization in sports and equine-assisted services, arm selection, motor learning and pedagogy, and body composition.

Sanna Mattila-Rautiainen

Sanna currently holds a shared doctoral position at the University of Eastern Finland in sports and exercise medicine and is working in the field of EAS (physical therapy) in her own company. She served HETI as a board member from 2003-2009 as a vice-president and HETI Journal editor and from 2015-2021 as president of HETI Federation during the transfer of the office from the USA to Ireland and the COVID- pandemic. Sanna has a main interest in biomechanics combining human and equine movement and pain management. She has completed studies with chronic low back pain patients treating them from a physical therapy perspective and published several articles on it. Sanna has been teaching in Equine College courses of equine facilitated therapies (in Finland) and has held several international courses on biomechanics. She has also been involved in several international EU-funded projects where EAS education has been developed.

Anne Barnfield

Originally from England, Dr. Anne Barnfield holds a B.Sc. from the University of London, Great Britain, and a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Sussex, Great Britain. Anne currently is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Brescia University College (affiliated with the University of Western Ontario), in London, Ontario, Canada. A member of several professional organizations relating to human-animal interactions, and working for HETI on the Ethics Taskforce and the Research and Education committee, Anne is interested in the beneficial psychological effects of physical activity and particularly the effects of interactions involving equines. Although involved in a number of different types of studies, Anne’s current research area is equine-assisted/facilitated activities: the beneficial influences of Therapeutic Riding (TR) for children with special needs, and applications of Equine-Assisted Therapy/Psychotherapy (EAT/P) in treatment of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for Military Veterans and Emergency Services Personnel. In her free time Anne volunteers at the local TR centre, practices karate, and rides her own horse “Lilliput”. Anne lives in London, Ontario, with her husband Richard (a Political Sciences Professor).

Journal team

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