Favela Health

In this project, I am co-leading teams in Rio and Salvador exploring the drivers of poor health in favelas and strategies to promote health equity.  In Rio, our partners at UERJ and CEDAPS are leading community-based research efforts to understand the multiple burdens facing women and youth in the city's favelas.  We have also analyzed and mapped all the 2010 Rio Favela Census data.

In Salvador, we are documenting over a decade of work in the Pau da Lima favela aimed at improving health and living conditions. We have spent the last year compiling tens of interviews, conducting ethnography in the favela and in a medical clinic, as well as reviewing tens of original documents. We are developing a detailed set of book chapters on how clinical/lab-based infectious disease research can move 'into the street' and engage with the expertise of local residents to support urban planning and development initiatives that can improve health.