Jump to content

Cristina Possas: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m corrections and update.
Tags: Manual revert Reverted possible unreferenced addition to BLP Visual edit
m still unsourced
Line 21: Line 21:


'''Cristina Possas de Albuquerque''' (born 5 June 1948) is a Brazilian [[public health]] scientist working with [[infectious diseases]] and [[emerging infectious disease]]s from an [[Ecosocial theory|eco-social]] perspective.
'''Cristina Possas de Albuquerque''' (born 5 June 1948) is a Brazilian [[public health]] scientist working with [[infectious diseases]] and [[emerging infectious disease]]s from an [[Ecosocial theory|eco-social]] perspective.

However, her approach to social ecosystem complexity is quite different from the four-fold eco-social approach of Harvard's Nancy Krieger and was presented by her in a 2001 English-language article in the Brazilian Journal of Public Health Reports. This article presents the concept of " social ecosystem health", where ecosystems are increasingly modified by human social activity, favoring the emergence of new diseases, by the `spill-over` of pathogens from animals to humans, as occurred in the emergence of HIV/AIDS and now COVID-19 pandemics. Therefore, in her view, the term “social” must precede the prefix “eco”. Thus, she is known for (a) developing her new conceptual approach to social epidemiology, incorporating the economic concept of structural heterogeneity into a new epidemiological model designed to identify the epidemiological profiles of heterogeneous populations at different social and economic levels and socio-environmental conditions favoring disease emergence; (b) research on health transition, ecological change, complex systems and the emergence of new diseases. (c) contributions to health policy and health reform in Brazil. She was the first person to propose a Health Reform in Brazil, along the lines of the Italian Sanitary Reform, in a Seminar held at ENSP/FIOCRUZ in October 1985, which resulted in the creation of the National Health Reform Commission and later in the Brazilian National Health System -SUS. Her claim at ENSP/FIOCRUZ in 1985 for a Health Reform supporting a free, public and universal national health system  expressed the long-standing aspirations of a health professionals movement and of  the Brazilian society since the 1970´s for a radical change in the so far privately-dominant health care model. Her request for a Health Reform triggered a national political process resulting in the creation of the SUS incorporated into the new 1988 Constitution. After her speech at ENSP/FIOCRUZ she was invited by the Ministry of Health and by the then President of Fiocruz, Sérgio Arouca, to be the Coordinator of the 8 Technical Groups of the National Commission on Sanitary Reform (CNRS), whose final report was proposed to the Constituents and resulted in the creation and implementation of the SUS in the various Brazilian states.


She is a Takemi Fellow at Harvard University in Boston, where for 10 years she has been a visiting scientist and a [[Fulbright Fellowship|Fulbright Fellow]]. She has been since 1976 a professor at [[FIOCRUZ]] in [[Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil.
She is a Takemi Fellow at Harvard University in Boston, where for 10 years she has been a visiting scientist and a [[Fulbright Fellowship|Fulbright Fellow]]. She has been since 1976 a professor at [[FIOCRUZ]] in [[Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil.

Revision as of 05:05, 1 May 2023

Cristina Possas
Born (1948-06-05) June 5, 1948 (age 76)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Minister of health, public health research scientist, infectious disease research scientist, academic
Years active1985–present
EmployerFiocruz
Known for

Cristina Possas de Albuquerque (born 5 June 1948) is a Brazilian public health scientist working with infectious diseases and emerging infectious diseases from an eco-social perspective.

She is a Takemi Fellow at Harvard University in Boston, where for 10 years she has been a visiting scientist and a Fulbright Fellow. She has been since 1976 a professor at FIOCRUZ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Education and employment

After her undergraduate studies, Possas completed a PhD in psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RIO) in 1972. After completing her MSocSc at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in 1980 Possas was appointed to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Portuguese Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, also known as FIOCRUZ) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a full professor in 1985 where she has worked ever since, completing a public health PhD at the National School of Public Health in 1988.

Whilst working at FIOCRUZ she has also spent time as a Fulbright Fellow and Takemi Fellow in International Health at Harvard University from 1990 to 1994 before becoming a visiting scientist with the New Diseases Group at Harvard School of Public Health from 1994 to 2002. Possas also served as National Executive Secretary, National Technical Biosafety Commission (CTNBio), Ministry of Science and Technology, Brazil from 2001 to 2002 and Head, Research and Technological Development Unit, National AIDS Program, Ministry of Health, Brazil, 2002–2011.

She has given radio and television interviews on AIDS, Dengue fever, and Zika fever.

Awards and distinctions

  • 1983. FINEP research grant on Health System Evaluation, coordinating 7 subprojects, Medical School, PUC-Campinas, SP[1]
  • 1989. FINEP (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos) grant, Coordinator National Multicentric Project Evaluation Health Systems, FIOCRUZ, RJ[1]
  • 1991. Capes Fellowship,[1] Harvard University
  • 1992. Takemi Fellow, Harvard University.[2][3]
  • 1993. CNPq Scientific Productivity Fellowship[1]

Selected publications

References

  1. ^ a b c d CNPq profile for Cristina de Albuquerque Possas
  2. ^ Takemi Program, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  3. ^ "Takemi Fellows 1990-2000". Takemi Program in International Health. 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Cristina_Possas&oldid=1152594190"