Theme 1
This Theme seeks to address the clinical, psychosocial and educational aspects related to the different stages of human development, in an integrated way. It is known that the complete development of children up to the age of five, in large social inequality countries, is highly compromised because of the adversities that can affect their health, well-being and learning over the course of their lives.
This not only has negative long-term effects on individuals, but also contributes to the perpetuation of the cycle of poverty, inequality and social exclusion, which are issues that affect a great portion of the world’s population. Because of the major socioeconomic changes that have occurred over the past decades, we are faced with a new epidemiological reality that calls us to look at some target aspects of public health from a different perspective.
The continuous growth of aging population all over the world have resulted in constant challenges to be addressed for the maintenance of quality of life and disease management at this stage of life. In addition to that, chronic and neglected diseases, such as tuberculosis and other diseases, affect large numbers of individuals, leading to economic burden on health systems.
Therefore, strategies aiming at the promotion of health, as well as at new treatments and development of innovative technologies will be investigated in studies in a translational perspective over the lifecycle. The University has chosen this Theme because of the prominent role PUCRS plays in the health area of research, especially in infancy and aging. In this sense, our efforts will be undertaken in five research lines:
(a) Child development, etiology of diseases, environmental impact, dieting and physical activities.
(b) Epidemiological aspects, diagnosis and drug development for neglected diseases.
(c) Biopsychosocial aspects related to the individual’s health in adult life.
(d) Studies on aging neuropsychology and molecular mechanisms associated with neurodegenerative diseases in the elderly population.
(e) Development of technologies and innovative processes in health. The University is intent on developing international and multicenter studies through graduate programs of excellence, geared towards prevention and intervention in every stage of life with the employment of innovative strategies to improve the health of the individual.
