The Future of Environmental Epidemiology

The Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) is celebrating ten years-old. In one decade, the centre has grown considerably and has provided scientific evidence in the field that has contributed to the development of health protection policies. As part of the celebration, CREAL organized on November 27 the symposium "The Future of Environmental Epidemiology" that took place at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) and brought together young scientific leaders to debate what the field will look like over the next twenty years.   

What exposures should be studied? Which methods and tools will be available? What will be the roadmap for the future? These were some of the questions that the experts discussed throughout the day. "Even if we don't know what the future will be", explains Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, researcher at CREAL and moderator of the symposium, "we know there will be a lot of data out there on environmental exposures and health, and many scientists from diverse disciplines will be needed to analyse and make sense of the data".     

According to the 2014 SCIMAGO index, CREAL ranks first in Spain in terms of normalized impact factor and second in terms of research excellence. In addition, its researchers play an important advisory role in international organizations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). CREAL is currently undergoing an alliance process with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), "an important step to sustain our growth and strengthen the centre", as Josep Maria Antó, CREAL director, explained at the beginning of the event.   

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CREAL celebrates 10 years of excellence in research in environmental health