Miquel Porta
Encyclopedia
Miquel Porta is a Catalan
physician and epidemiologist. Appointed by the International Epidemiological Association
(IEA)http://www.dundee.ac.uk/iea, in 2008 he succeeded the Canadian epidemiologist John M. Last as Editor of "A Dictionary of Epidemiology".
He is currently the head of the Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology
of Cancer Unit at the Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM - Hospital del Mar - prbb) http://www.imim.es. He is also a Professor of Preventive Medicine
& Public Health, School of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) , and an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health
, University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill (UNC) .
After graduating from the UAB School of Medicine in 1981, Porta was during 3 years a Fellow with the Division of Clinical Pharmacology of UAB. He was then awarded a Fulbright scholarship to pursue the Master of Public Health (MPH) program at UNC, where he was later a Burroughs Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow in Pharmacoepidemiology
.
The current three main lines of research of his Unit at IMIM are: 1) Clinical and molecular epidemiology of pancreatic cancer
and cancer of the extrahepatic biliary system. Gene-environment interactions with organochlorine compounds in the etiopathogenesis of pancreatic diseases. 2) Screening, early clinical detection, and "diagnostic delay" in cancer
. 3) Assessing the impact on human health of Persistent Organic Pollutant
(POPs).
Other than at the UAB School of Medicine, he has also taught on molecular epidemiology, clinical epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology at other institutions, including McGill University (Montreal, Canada), Imperial College (London), the European Educational Programme in Epidemiology (Firenze, Italy), the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (Münster, Germany), several universities in Brazil and Mexico, and at Harvard, where he was on sabbatical in 1998-1999. He has acted as a grant and doctoral thesis reviewer for the Karolinska Institutet, the Finnish Academy, Diabetes UK, and several other European and American scientific organisations.
From 1994 to 1998 he was President of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology (SEE). From 2002 to 2005 he was European Councillor of the International Epidemiological Association
(IEA) and Chairman of the IEA European Epidemiology Federation .
He is (co)author of over 280 papers , published in journals as The Lancet, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gut, International Journal of Cancer, British Journal of Cancer, Mutation Research, Carcinogenesis, Molecular Carcinogenesis, Cancer Causes & Control, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, Environmental Health Perspectives, Environmental & Molecular Mutagenesis, Chemosphere, Mutagenesis, Environmental Research, Environment International, Milbank Quarterly, Epidemiology, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, International Journal of Epidemiology or Preventive Medicine.
Beyond his main lines of research, he has written on topics such as causality
and the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE) / Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(vCJD) link, persistent organic pollutants and public health, genome
metaphors, the bibliographic impact factor
and scientific journals, or the roles of scientific associations.
He is a member of the editorial boards of the 'European Journal of Clinical Investigation' , ‘Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health’ http://jech.bmj.com/, ‘Preventive Medicine’ , ‘Epidemiology’ , and the ‘Journal of Clinical Epidemiology’, an editorial consultant to ‘The Lancet’http://www.thelancet.com/, and a Co-editor of the ‘European Journal of Epidemiology’.
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
physician and epidemiologist. Appointed by the International Epidemiological Association
International Epidemiological Association
The International Epidemiological Association is an organization that aims at promoting epidemiologic research worldwide. It is run by an executive council and regional councilors from all WHO regions. The organization hosts World Conferences in Epidemiology every three years and regional...
(IEA)http://www.dundee.ac.uk/iea, in 2008 he succeeded the Canadian epidemiologist John M. Last as Editor of "A Dictionary of Epidemiology".
He is currently the head of the Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...
of Cancer Unit at the Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM - Hospital del Mar - prbb) http://www.imim.es. He is also a Professor of Preventive Medicine
Preventive medicine
Preventive medicine or preventive care refers to measures taken to prevent diseases, rather than curing them or treating their symptoms...
& Public Health, School of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) , and an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
at Chapel Hill (UNC) .
After graduating from the UAB School of Medicine in 1981, Porta was during 3 years a Fellow with the Division of Clinical Pharmacology of UAB. He was then awarded a Fulbright scholarship to pursue the Master of Public Health (MPH) program at UNC, where he was later a Burroughs Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow in Pharmacoepidemiology
Pharmacoepidemiology
Pharmacoepidemiology is the study of the use of and the effects of drugs in large numbers of people.To accomplish this study, pharmacoepidemiology borrows from both pharmacology and epidemiology. Thus, pharmacoepidemiology is the bridge between both pharmacology and epidemiology...
.
The current three main lines of research of his Unit at IMIM are: 1) Clinical and molecular epidemiology of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
and cancer of the extrahepatic biliary system. Gene-environment interactions with organochlorine compounds in the etiopathogenesis of pancreatic diseases. 2) Screening, early clinical detection, and "diagnostic delay" in cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. 3) Assessing the impact on human health of Persistent Organic Pollutant
Persistent organic pollutant
thumb|right|275px|State parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic PollutantsPersistent organic pollutants are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes...
(POPs).
Other than at the UAB School of Medicine, he has also taught on molecular epidemiology, clinical epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology at other institutions, including McGill University (Montreal, Canada), Imperial College (London), the European Educational Programme in Epidemiology (Firenze, Italy), the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (Münster, Germany), several universities in Brazil and Mexico, and at Harvard, where he was on sabbatical in 1998-1999. He has acted as a grant and doctoral thesis reviewer for the Karolinska Institutet, the Finnish Academy, Diabetes UK, and several other European and American scientific organisations.
From 1994 to 1998 he was President of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology (SEE). From 2002 to 2005 he was European Councillor of the International Epidemiological Association
International Epidemiological Association
The International Epidemiological Association is an organization that aims at promoting epidemiologic research worldwide. It is run by an executive council and regional councilors from all WHO regions. The organization hosts World Conferences in Epidemiology every three years and regional...
(IEA) and Chairman of the IEA European Epidemiology Federation .
He is (co)author of over 280 papers , published in journals as The Lancet, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gut, International Journal of Cancer, British Journal of Cancer, Mutation Research, Carcinogenesis, Molecular Carcinogenesis, Cancer Causes & Control, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, Environmental Health Perspectives, Environmental & Molecular Mutagenesis, Chemosphere, Mutagenesis, Environmental Research, Environment International, Milbank Quarterly, Epidemiology, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, International Journal of Epidemiology or Preventive Medicine.
Beyond his main lines of research, he has written on topics such as causality
Causality
Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....
and the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
(BSE) / Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or CJD is a degenerative neurological disorder that is incurable and invariably fatal. CJD is at times called a human form of mad cow disease, given that bovine spongiform encephalopathy is believed to be the cause of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans.CJD...
(vCJD) link, persistent organic pollutants and public health, genome
Genome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
metaphors, the bibliographic impact factor
Impact factor
The impact factor, often abbreviated IF, is a measure reflecting the average number of citations to articles published in science and social science journals. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field, with journals with higher impact factors deemed...
and scientific journals, or the roles of scientific associations.
He is a member of the editorial boards of the 'European Journal of Clinical Investigation' , ‘Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health’ http://jech.bmj.com/, ‘Preventive Medicine’ , ‘Epidemiology’ , and the ‘Journal of Clinical Epidemiology’, an editorial consultant to ‘The Lancet’http://www.thelancet.com/, and a Co-editor of the ‘European Journal of Epidemiology’.