About us

The Miguel Hernández University is a Spanish public university that was set up in 1996 and has its main campus in Elche (Alicante). The group of clinical epidemiology, health policies and global health of the Universidad Miguel Hernández, which includes the main researcher in the CEAD Project, Dr Lucy Anne Parker and other members of the team, is attached to the Department of Public Health, History of Science and Gynaecology of the Faculty of Medicine.

Teaching in this department covers a wide range of degrees in Health Science and Social Science both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Postgraduate activities include a PhD Programme in Public Health, Medical and Surgical Science. It also organises a Master in Development Cooperation, specialised in Health in Developing Countries, directed by Dr Lucy Anne Parker. This research group, which is led by Professor Ildefonso Hernández Aguado, includes professionals from different health-related disciplines and is part of the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública CIBERESP [CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health], an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. The members of the group lead and collaborate in different national and international projects. There is also close collaboration with different national and international associations and organisations involved in public health. Their activity also includes taking part in advising regional and national governments and sitting on international committees on health policies.

The Centro de Epidemiología Comunitaria y Medicina Tropical (CECOMET), is a nonprofit organisation that was set up on 13 April 1996, under the Vicariato Apostólico de Esmeraldas Misión Comboniana (Ecuador). It works for the health well-being of underprivileged populations in rural and urban deprived areas and encourages beneficiaries to get involved. It is an institution for research/intervention and training in tropical medicine and community epidemiology that focuses on the need to reinforce in the community its ability to analyse and deal efficiently with priority health issues, to monitor its evolution through time and evaluate the impact these intervention strategies have locally.

It has collaborated with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health for 40 years, in the Eloy Alfaro canton, and for nearly 15 years in the San Lorenzo canton, by applying health care models included in the APS strategy focusing on Community Epidemiology. It is very experienced in coordinating and developing research applied to health issues of epidemiologic scope on territory, in the province of Esmeraldas and internationally (Burkina Faso, Bolivia).

The Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE) was set up by the Society of Jesus in 1946 and is the oldest private university in the country. Its main campus is in the city of Quito and it also has other campuses in Ambato, Esmeraldas, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Ibarra, Manabí and Sucumbíos. The Faculty of Medicine was established in 1994 with the aim of training health professionals with a comprehensive approach through problem-based Learning (PBL). In 1998 PUCE’s Instituto de Salud Pública (ISP) was founded. It is attached to the Faculty of Medicine by the Interinstitutional Cooperation Agreement between the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp – Belgium and the PUCE, with the aim of reinforcing interaction between learning and health services and developing public health capacities in the country.

The Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE) has contributed to training and higher education in public health of students who are committed to the country and its different health inequality situations; to research in a vital area like health with a marked interdisciplinary approach; and academically, collaborating with public policies by producing rigorous, updated and relevant information on the national context that may help to make decisions. Since 2000 a Master in Public Health is also available.