Team
The team behind the project Ageing and Health is an interdisciplinar group of professionals and scientists specialized in multiple sanitary fields.
Meet the Researchers
Josep Maria Haro
Psychiatrist
Is a psychiatrist and doctor in public health, he is the director of research and teaching at the Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona, Spain and associate professor of medicine at the University of Barcelona. After his medical studies, he trained in epidemiology and public health at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health (Baltimore, MD, USA). He subsequently specialized in psychiatry at the Hospital Clínico de Barcelona. During the last twenty-five years he has worked in both clinical medicine and public health research and has published more than three hundred scientific papers. His areas of research have been the epidemiology of mental disorders and the analysis of treatments effectivity.
José Luis Ayuso Mateos
Psychatrist
Is a professor of Psychiatry and Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Research and Training in Mental Health. He is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of nosology, epidemiology, and management and prevention of mental disorders and suicidal behavior. Likewise, he is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council for the revision of the Mental and Behavioral Diseases chapter of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
Marta Miret
Psychologist and Anthropologist
Has a degree in Psychology, a degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology and a doctorate in Clinical and Health Psychology. She studied at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Boston University (United States) and Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Since 2014 she is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Likewise, she is the principal investigator of various national and European projects. Her field of research is the epidemiology of mental disorders, affective disorders, suicidal behavior, and the relationship between the state of health and subjective well-being and loneliness. She has published numerous scientific articles in international journals, most of them from the first quartile and directed numerous doctoral theses.
Beatriz Olaya
Psychologist
Is a doctor in Psychology, specialized in methodology and statistics in Health Sciences. Since 2010 she has worked as a researcher at the Fundació Sant Joan de Déu and has been involved in various national and international projects on aging and health. She has coordinated the line of research 'Prevalence and comorbidity of mental disorders in different age groups' and is currently the principal investigator of the European Empowerment project. She also collaborates with the University of Roehamptom (London) and the University of Vic (Barcelona).
Elvira Lara
Psychologist and Pedagogue
Has a degree in Psychology, a graduate in Pedagogy and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Barcelona. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Psychiatry of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She has extensive experience in mental health, participating in various national and international projects. She has also been professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Universidad Isabel I. Her main areas of interest are the epidemiology of mental health, with particular emphasis on aging, well-being, cognitive decline, social factors, and depression.
Joan Domenech
Sociologist
Has a degree in Sociology and Political Analysis from the University of Barcelona. During the last few years, he has worked as a researcher at the Sant Joan de Déu Foundation, participating in both national and international projects. He is an associate professor at the University of Barcelona and the University of Vic. In 2019 he defended his doctoral thesis on the social determinants of mental health.
María Cabello
Psychologist
Has a degree in psychology from the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Madrid and a PhD from the department of psychiatry of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at UAM. She has participated in numerous epidemiological and intervention studies in patients with mental disorders. Her work has also included statistical analyses and writing of scientific articles using the databases of the Ageing and Health study. Her main lines of research focus on the analysis of disability and work problems in people with mental problems, and on the epidemiology of suicidal behavior.
Jordi Rodeiro
Computer Engineer and Data Scientist
He graduated in Computer Engineering (2022) and in Sports Science and Physical Activity (2020). He obtained a master's degree in Data Science in 2023 from La Salle Barcelona. Recently, he has joined as a researcher at the Fundació Sant Joan de Déu. He has experience in the analysis of the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions and in the analysis of risk factors for mental health in population studies.
Aina Gabarrell
Biotechnologist
Graduated in Biotechnology in 2018 at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and obtained her master's degree in Clinical Research, specialized in International Health, from the University of Barcelona (UB) in 2019. She is currently part of the epidemiology research group of mental and aging disorders, led by Dr. Haro, from the Sant Joan de Déu Foundation (FSJD). She will soon begin her doctoral studies following the line of work of her research group.
Chiara Castelletti
Psychologist
Has a degree in Clinical Psychology from the Università di Pavia, Italy, and specialized in the Autism Spectrum Disorder. She worked as a research technician at the Faculty of Psychology of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She currently works as a predoctoral researcher, with an FPI grant, in the Department of Psychiatry of the UAM Faculty of Medicine and is developing her doctoral thesis.
María Victoría Moneta
Statistician
Has a degree in Statistics (National University of Rosario, Argentina) and has obtained the Interuniversity Master's Degree in Statistics and Operations Research (UPC-UB, Barcelona) in 2011. She has worked in the Research, Innovation and Teaching Unit, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu since 2009. She has collaborated in different projects on clinical psychology, mental disorders and epidemiology. One of them was the study 'Collaborative Research Project on Aging in Europe (COURAGE)'. She is currently working on big data analysis to study mortality associated with mental disorders and the impact of physical comorbidity.
Blanca Dolz del Castellar Blanco
Psychologist
Has a degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in General Health Psychology from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Se has also obtained a master’s degree in Systemic Family Therapy in this same university. During her master’s degree she collaborated in research tasks in the Department of Psychology of the Universidad Pontificia Comillas. She currently works as a predoctoral researcher, with an FPI grant, in the Department of Psychiatry of the UAM Faculty of Medicine where she will develop her doctoral thesis. .
Lea Francia
Psychologist
She graduated from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Psychology in 2021. She deepened her knowledge in research at the University of Montreal and at the Sainte-Justine Hospital in Canada. As a doctoral student, she is currently working on the adequacy of pharmacological treatments for depression over time and symptoms in collaboration with the WHO Collaborating Research Centre (UAM) and the University of Oxford.
Jesús Godino Cruz
Psychologist
Holds a master's degree in Methodology in Behavioral and Health Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), together with a degree in Psychology from the UCM. His profile is focused on data analysis, specializing in complex survey models, risk analysis and multilevel models. He has worked in several international research teams and currently works as a research technician for the FIB Hospital Universitario la Princesa in the WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Training in Mental Health Services of the Department of Psychiatry of the Autonomous University of Madrid.
