Healthcare Communication Analysis: A Multi-Country Study on the Perception of Obesity-Related Terminology in Healthcare and Everyday Contexts

Sanja Seljan, PhD is a Full Professor with permanent tenure, consultant, researcher, and advisory board member specializing in information sciences, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and language technologies. Her research centers on machine learning applications in health communication, semantic analysis, and intelligent information systems. She actively participates in international and interdisciplinary projects, teaches at several doctoral studies programs, and supervises doctoral candidates at national and international levels. Prof. Seljan has published extensively in natural language processing, data-driven modeling, and information management. Her current work integrates computational approaches with social and communication research, with a particular focus on responsible AI, terminology analysis, and cross-cultural perspectives in digital health. She is also a visiting professor and Advisory Board Member for the Master’s program at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi.

Zagreb, Croatia. E-mail: sanja.seljan@ffzg.unizg.hr

Maja Baretić, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, is a consultant endocrinologist, diabetologist, and specialist in internal medicine at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia. Her clinical and research work focuses on diabetes mellitus, the integration of emerging technologies in healthcare, and the evolving role of innovation in modern medicine. She has a strong clinical focus on diabetes in pregnancy, obesity, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, and thyroid disorders. Dr. Baretić leads the Croatian Obesity Treatment Referral Centre, a Collaborating Centre for Obesity Management by the European Association for the Study of Obesity. She holds the title of European Obesity Fellow. Her research has been published in leading international journals including The Lancet, Nature, and Nature Medicine. Dr. Baretić serves on the boards of the member of the Clinical Committee of the European Society of Endocrinology.

Zagreb, Croatia. E-mail: maja.baretic@kbc-zagreb.hr

Natalia Kaloh Vid, PhD is an Associate Professor at the Department of Translation Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Slovenia, where she teaches courses in intercultural communication, professional and literary translation, culture, and translation theory. She holds two Ph.D. degrees—one in English Literature and Translation Studies, focusing on the influence of ideology on literary and translation production, and another in Contemporary Russian Literature. She previously served as Vice-Dean for International Cooperation and Promotion. She is the author of five scientific monographs and more than 100 scholarly articles and book chapters. As a guest lecturer, she has taught at universities across Europe and has participated in several international research projects, including the EU-funded TransLaw project on legal interpreting and transcultural law services. She was leading the EDU-FIT project from 2023-2025.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: natalia.vid@um.si

Vlasta Kučiš, PhD is a Full Professor at the Department of Translation Studies, University of Maribor, Slovenia, holding a Ph.D. in intercultural communication and translation studies. She is the Head and Coordinator of the CEEPUS network TRANS (TRANScultural Communication and TRANSlation) and has extensive experience in intercultural communication and adult foreign language education. She actively participates in international conferences in communication and translation studies and has received several Erasmus and CEEPUS mobility grants. Prof. Kučiš is a member of the European Society for Translation Studies (EST) and the International Federation of Communication Associations (IFCA). Her research focuses on translation and communication studies, intercultural communication, translation theory, and specialized translation. She is a member of the international TransLaw project and EDU-FIT research group and leads a bilateral project on computer-assisted translation in Slovene-Croatian business communication.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: vlasta.kucis@um.si

Prof. Emerita Dušanka Mičetić-Turk, Ph.D., dr. dr. h. c., senior counselor, is the founder of pediatric gastroenterology at the Maribor Pediatric Clinic and was for many years the leading pediatric gastroenterologist in Slovenia. She completed advanced training at renowned pediatric clinics in Belgrade, Zagreb, Leiden, Amsterdam, Graz, London, and New York. Alongside her clinical work, she conducted extensive research in pediatric gastroenterology, nutrition, probiotics, and intestinal microbiota. From 1997 to 2007, she served as dean of the College of Health Sciences, which became the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2003 under her leadership. In 2006, the University of Oulu awarded her the title Doctor Honoris Causa. She is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Medical Academy of Slovenia and heads the Department of Pediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: dusanka.turk13@gmail.com

Ana Pongrac Pavlina, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Information and Communication Sciences at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia. She teaches graduate courses on teaching methods in computer science education and information and communication sciences. Her research focuses on instructional methodologies in both traditional and digital learning environments. Her work addresses e-learning, digital textbooks, digital educational tools and materials, innovative and creative teaching approaches, quality teaching, children’s libraries, and digital picture books, contributing actively to the development of future professionals in education and digital pedagogy.

Zagreb, Croatia. E-mail: apongrac@ffzg.unizg.hr

Jozef Štefčík, PhD is an Associate Professor at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of Applied Language, Department of Linguistics and Translatology. Since 2005, he has worked as a professional interpreter and translator of English and German. His research focuses on interpreting didactics, translation technologies, and legal and community interpreting. He served as president of the Slovak Society of Translators of Technical Literature (SSPOL) and as project manager at Translogia, specializing in multilingual digital projects. He has published numerous articles and a monograph addressing legal interpreting in Slovakia. He has also contributed to the CEEPUS-TRANS network and participated in projects involving terminology databases, multilingual mobile applications, the evaluation of machine translation and post-editing.

Bratislava Slovakia. E-mail: jozef.stefcik@euba.sk