Aina Roca Barcelo

Epidemiologist interested in the intersection between climate and health

I am PhD candidate in Environmental Epidemiology at the School of Public Health and a part-time Research Assistant in Epidemiology at the UK Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU), part of the MRC Centre for Environment and Health.

My main research project is looking at the effects of temperature changes in people’s health in Sao Paulo in Brazil, particularly focusing on identifying vulnerable population groups and neighbourhoods, information that can be used to develop and inform targeted policies. This is part of my PhD fully funded by the President Studentship Program from Imperial College London. I am currently a visting researcher at the European Space Agency (ESA) Phi-lab in Frascati, Italy where I am exploring the use of earth observation data for temperature data reconstruction at high spatio-temporal resolution (https://philab.esa.int/our-people/0. I am working under the supervision of Dr Rochelle Schneider Dos Santos.

I was trained in Biomedical Sciences at the “Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)” and also hold a Master’s in Health Promotion by the “Universitat de Girona (UdG)”, Spain. My professional experience extends from lab-based research mainly in cancer molecular biology to epidemiological research, through my post as a Research Assistant in Epidemiology both at the Girona Cancer Registry, Spain and at SAHSU.

My research interests include: (i) environmental and social health, specially related to non-communicable diseases and small area data; and (ii) co-benefits of climate change mitigation strategies, especially in relation to health and social inequalities.

Many of the studies I contribute to assess environmental hazards with potential impacts on the population health and thus, often have policy relevance. Therefore, I acknowledge the value of communicating my scientific research to a wide audience, both including policy makers and the general public. I am actively engaged in Public Engagement Activities including general activities such as the Imperial Festival, as well as project-specific outreach activities.

In relation to knowledge transfer, I am actively involved in teaching activities such as the GIS for Public Health workshop (GIS for Public Health) organized by the Environmental Exposure Group within the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. I am also a member of the “Researchers’ Society MRC-PHE Environment & Health” (MRC Researcher Society) where we organize trainings and seminars on a wide variety of topics, ranging from scientific paper writing to community involvement for climate change action.

Find my full resume here

Qualifications

2017 - Master’s Program in Health Promotion; University of Girona (UdG), Girona, Spain. 2016 - Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Sciences; “Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona” (UAB), Barcelona, Spain.

Professional Memberships and Activities

  • Intern at the Phi-lab European Space Agency (ESA) working on machine learning methods for earth observation (AI4EO)
  • Member of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE). Active member of the Policy, European Chapter and SNRN committee.
  • Member of the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH)

Expertise

Epidemiology;Climate Change; Urban Health; Environmental health epidemiology; Non-communicable diseases; Social equities