Cristina Possas

Cristina Possas de Albuquerque
Cristina Possas de Albuquerque, PhD
Born	Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Citizenship	Brazil
Alma mater	Harvard School of Public Health, Post-doctoral work in International Health Fiocruz, National School of Public Health, PhD in Public Health, 1988 UNICAMP, Master’s Degree in Social Sciences, 1980 PUC-Rio, Master’s Degree in Social Sciences, 1972
Occupation(s)	Minister of health, public health researcher, infectious disease researcher, academic
Years active	1985 — present
Known for	Medical research
Title	Professor Fiocruz

Cristina Possas de Albuquerque (Cristina Possas) is a Brazilian public health scientist working with infectious diseases from an eco-social perspective and have a long experience working as a policymaker in close cooperation with the scientific community and civil society organizations in the areas of public health and environment, approached from the perspectives of human rights and social justice. Currently she is Head of the Research and Development Unit at the Department of STD, AIDS and viral hepatitis at the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

In 1998, she earned a PhD in public health from FIOCRUZ, and currently she is on leave from her role as Professor of Health Policy at the National School of Public Health at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil, where she has also been the director of graduate programs. She was formerly a visiting scientist, Takemi Fellow, and Fulbright Fellow in a postdoctoral program at the Harvard School of Public Health. She has published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, World Bank, and was editor of the special supplement, Ethics in Genetic Manipulations, of the journal Strategic Partnerships. She has worked for more than five decades in several national and international positions with the scientific community and civil society organizations, and with the Ford Foundation in Brazil, in developing and implementing public policy, designing and conducting scientific and technological assessment in health and environment, and developing and managing international cooperation and building capacity within the international scientific community and civil society organizations in Brazil and globally.

For ten years, she has been National Director of the Research and Technological Development Unit at the Brazilian AIDS Program in the Brazilian Ministry of Health, which has been recognized globally as an outstanding public health initiative with innovative approaches to the pandemics, always centering on free and universal access to prevention and treatment. She was invited by the Director of the National AIDS Program to conceive and create a new and innovative Research and Technological Development Unit in the Program’s structure.

Recent Experience

Main article: Health in Brazil

The Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo is one of the most well-known health units in Brazil.

• Full professor, Fiocruz (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation), 1985-present

Coordinated Master’s, Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Programs in Public Health and Clinical Research on Infectious Diseases.

• Director, Research and Technological Development Unit, National AIDS Program, Ministry of Health, Brazil, 2002-2011
• National Executive Secretary, National Technical Biosafety Commission (CTNBio), Ministry of Science and Technology, Brazil, 2001-2002
• Visiting Scientist, New Diseases Group, Harvard School of Public Health, 1994 - 2002
• Takemi Fellow in International Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 1990-1994
• Fulbright Fellow, Harvard University, 1990-1994

Education

• 1991 Post-doctoral, International Health, Harvard School of Public Health
• 1988 PhD in Public Health, National School of Public Health, FIOCRUZ
• 1980 Master’s Degree in Social Sciences, UNICAMP
• 1972 Doctor in Psychology, PUC-RIO

Major publications

• Articles: Nature Biotechnology, JAIDS, AIDS, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Journal of Virus Eradication, Trends in Microbiology, Vaccine
• Book chapters: National French Agency for AIDS and Viral Hepatitis Research, ANRS (ed.); US National Academy Press,
• Book: two best-sellers books adopted by Public Health and Medical Schools in Brazil - Epidemiology and Society: Structural Heterogeneity and Health, 1990 and Health and Labor: the Crisis of Social Welfare 1980, both edited by HUCITEC, SP
• Report: the World Bank

Awards and Honors

• French government medal in recognition for coordinating ANRS research site in Brazil; Honors, Best book on Social Welfare, Brazilian Society of Welfare Law; Harvard Takemi and Fulbright Fellowships; Research funds from CAPES, CNPq and FINEP in Brazil

Languages

• Fluencies in English, French, and Portuguese (native language).
• Proficiencies in Spanish and Italian

See also

• Ecosocial theory
• HIV/AIDS in Brazil
• Richard Levins
• Tamara Awerbuch-Friedlander
• Zika fever
• Zika virus
• Zika virus outbreak (2015–present)