Profile: Dulce Baptista
Dulce Baptista from Brazil studying for a PhD in the Department of Epidemiology & Population Health
"I can’t tell if my interest in population and health began during Bachelor’s degree in Economics, during my career as a journalist or during my Masters in Demography. But certainly I always felt attracted to the subject, particularly areas like economic demography, public policy, gender, and epidemiology. I participated in a number of projects in these fields, which made me want to develop my academic capabilities since they had so much enriched my experience and broadened my vision.
I came to LSHTM looking forward to finding out whether the years of healthy life are growing at the same pace as total life expectancy in Brazil. This is an important empirical question given the rapid aging of the Brazilian population, especially considering the fiscal limitations of the national budget and the precarious institutional setting. In Brazil, there is not yet any complete evidence comparing gains in life expectancy with increasing health of the elderly, above all because of the paucity of data sources and difficulties with the specific methodologies to evaluate and measure health.
In LSHTM I found not only an amazing array of learning opportunities and expertise, but the level of interdisciplinary flexibility required to determine the progression of elderly health status in Brazil, and what effects these changes will have on the health system."
Laura Oakley, Elizabeth Williamson, Julius Wandabwa, Pura Rayco-Solon and Joann McDermid are also studying for a PhD in the Department of Epidemiology & Population Health
