Dr Rafael Ruiz de Castaneda
Dr. Rafael Ruiz de Castañeda spearheads the development of the Certificate of open studies on community health. He has an interdisciplinary and international background at the interface of wild animal ecology and veterinary microbiology. He has an important field and lab experience in screening wild avian populations for the presence of potentially pathogenic and zoonotic bacteria (e.g. Enterobacteria) and parasites (e.g. avian malaria), and using this as indicators of population health status and conservation. His current interest have extended into the so called One Health / Eco-Health approach and its application in the context of Global Health challenges (e.g. emerging infectious diseases) and opportunities (e.g. conservation of biodiversity and health promotion) at the human-animal-ecosystem interface.
Besides extensive personal experiences in Africa since his childhood, Rafael Ruiz de Castañeda has also worked over several years in the coordination, development and implementation of innovative health education projects based on ITCs in developing and emerging countries in Africa but also in Latin America (e.g. EU-funded Africa Build, RAFT Network). He is also very much involved in the production of MOOCs in Global Health at the Faculty of Medicine and directs now in collaboration with Institut Pasteur his third project on Global Health and the Human-Animal-Ecosystem Interface.
