The Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto was founded in 2006, and is a non-profit association committed to advancing and disseminating public health knowledge. Its Epidemiology Research Unit (EPIUnit), established in 2015 and rated “Excellent” in 2019, delivers innovative research and high-impact solutions to global health issues.
Simultaneously, ISPUP ensures higher training in public health through various courses and supports resident doctors and post-graduate programs. Its Occupational Health Unit is equipped with the latest technology for the assessment of occupational risks, providing a wide range of laboratory services aimed at both the industry and the community, while also conducting relevant research in this area.
Since 2021, ISPUP leads the Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, an associated laboratory encompassing three R&D units – EPIUnit, CIAFEL, and UMIB. It fosters integrated public health research, leveraging the multidisciplinary and complementary features of each unit. Ultimately, all ISPUP’s activities are directed toward preventing diseases, improving population health, and preserving lives.
Project Staff
Dr. Ricardo Gusmão:
PhD in Psychiatry
Consultant Psychiatrist, Senior Hospital Assistant Invited
Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto (FMUP)
Lead Researcher at Mental Health Literacy, Wellbeing, Depression and Suicide Prevention Lab (ITR)
President of EUTIMIA—European Alliance Against Depression in Portugal (EAAD.PT)
Ricardo Gusmão is a consultant physician with a specialty in Psychiatry and a Professor of Public Mental Health at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto.
Senior researcher at the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto, he coordinates the Mental Health Literacy, Wellbeing, Depression, and Suicide Prevention Lab at the Associate Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health. He collaborates in the teaching of the Specialization Course in Public Health at ISPUP.
Founding member of the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD) and of the Municipal Forum for Health Promotion in Cascais. President of the NGO EUTIMIA.
He pioneered mental health literacy in Portugal and coordinated community psychiatry and liaison psychiatry teams. The study of depression and suicide prevention has been the main theme of his investigation.
Prof. Dr. Henrique Barros
PhD in Epidemiology
President of the Institute of Public Health, University of Porto
President-elected of The Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region
Full Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Porto
Member of the Executive Commission of the National Ethical Committee for Clinical Investigation
Henrique Barros was born in Porto, in 1957, and graduated in Medicine in 1981. During 1988-89 was a research fellow at the Internal Medicine department of Lund´s University Hospital. In 1991 became a Gastroenterology specialist and defended his PhD, with research on the epidemiology of viral hepatitis. He is a Full Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Porto since 1999. He launched the Master Programs in Public Health, Epidemiology, and Sociology and Health as well as the doctoral program in Public Health at the University of Porto and the doctoral program in Global Public Health (program director), a joint program with the University NOVA of Lisbon, financed by the Portuguese Research Foundation (FCT).
He was a member of the Scientific Council for Health Sciences Foundation for Science and Technology (2004-12), National Coordinator of the HIV/AIDS Program (2005-11) and member of the Medical Sciences (MED) Scientific Committee of Science Europe (2012-15).
He is currently, a member of the Executive Commission of the National Ethical Committee for Clinical Investigation (CEIC), President of the Institute of Public Health, University of Porto, Executive Board Member of ASPHER, and Past-President of the International Epidemiological Association (2017-20). He has developed research in national and international projects, in areas such as clinical and perinatal epidemiology, cardiovascular, infectious, and cancer diseases, which resulted in (co)authorship of hundreds of scientific publications in international journals.