Dr Maria Roura
Maria is a social scientist (PhD in Medical Sociology) with broad experience conducting qualitative research, and employing participatory research approaches in diverse socio-cultural settings, including Sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, Russia, Latin America, and Europe.
Employed as Lecturer in Sociology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), between 2006 and 2011 she set up and coordinated a qualitative research unit in Tanzania, against the backdrop of the second oldest cohort study in Sub-Saharan Africa. With a focus on developing policy recommendations, she employed Participatory Learning and Action tools to engage a diversity of stakeholders including users, health providers, faith leaders, traditional healers, and members of Village Aids Committees in the identification of community perceptions of HIV treatment. Previously, she served as HIV/AIDS advisor for the United Nations Development Program in Albania where she catalysed a participatory process to engage different stakeholders in the development of the 1st HIV/AIDS Strategy of Albania.
Based overseas for 10 years, she returned to Europe in 2011, where she was awarded a prestigious Ramon y Cajal fellowship by the Spanish Ministry of Science. Since then, her research has focused in the field of migrant and ethnic minorities health. Between 2011 and 2013 she lead the implementation of a social science work package embedded into a broader EC-FP7 multi-disciplinary project (Coordinating Resources to Assess and Improve the health of Latin American Migrants in Europe). As part of this project she conducted literature reviews, implemented participatory qualitative studies, and organized 3 international multi-disciplinary symposiums on migrant health. Besides focusing on specific diseases known to be disproportionally prevalent in some migrant populations (E.g.: Chagas, tuberculosis, HIV), she also engaged migrants in a sequential participatory research process that provided a rich and nuanced account of the behavioural and psycho-social pathways through which the social environment and broader structural factors affected migrants' health. She is particularly interested in the use of participatory approaches to inform the operationalisation of commonly employed variables in migrants’ health research.
Maria is a member of the Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) research group at UL which has expertise in PPI in research, specifically participatory health research with socially excluded communities.
Teaching and student supervision
MSc Degree in Public Health by Distance Learning, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM): Tutor for the module Principles of Social Research.
MSc in Global Health, University of Barcelona/ISGLOBAL: Lecturer and coordinator for the module Fundamentals of Qualitative Health Research.
MSc in Internationalisation, University of Barcelona/ISGLOBAL: Lecturer in Social Determinants of Health.
Co-supervision of 3 PhD students enrolled in the pioneering EC-funded research program Transglobal health, with the University of Barcelona/ISGLOBAL.
Roura M. Unravelling migrants’ health paradoxes: a transdisciplinary research agenda. J Epidemiol Community Health 2017;71:870-873.
Navaza B, Abarca B, Bisoffi F, Pool R, Roura M. Provider-Initiated HIV Testing for Migrants in Spain: A Qualitative Study with Health Care Workers and Foreign-Born Sexual Minorities. PLoS One. 2016;11(2): e0150223.
SC Inzaule, RL Hamers, C Kityo, TFR de Wit, Roura M. Long-Term Antiretroviral Treatment Adherence in HIV-infected Adolescents and Adults in Uganda: A Qualitative Study. PLoS One. 2016; 11 (11).
Roura M, Domingo A, Leyva-Moral JM, Pool R. Hispano-American migrants in Europe: what do we know about their health status and determinants? A scoping review. BMC public health. 2015;15:472.
Roura M, Bisoffi F, Navaza B, Pool R. "Carrying Ibuprofen in the Bag": Priority Health Concerns of Latin American Migrants in Spain- A Participatory Qualitative Study. PLoS One. 2015;10(8):e0136315.
Roura M, Watson-Jones D, Kahawita TM, Ferguson L, Ross DA. Provider-initiated testing and counselling programmes in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of their operational implementation. Aids. 2013;27(4):617-626.
Petit D, Sondorp E, Mayhew S, Roura M, Roberts B. Implementing a Basic Package of Health Services in post-conflict Liberia: perceptions of key stakeholders. Social Science & Medicine. 2013;78:42-49.
Ventura-Garcia L, Roura M, Pell C, Posada E, Gascón J, Aldasoro E, Muñoz J, Pool R. Socio-cultural aspects of Chagas disease: a systematic review of qualitative research. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 2013;7(9):e2410.
Abarca Tomas B, Pell C, Bueno Cavanillas A, Guillen Solvas J, Pool R, Roura M. Tuberculosis in migrant populations. A systematic review of the qualitative literature. PLoS One. 2013;8(12):e82440.
Keogh SC, Urassa M, Roura M, et al. The impact of antenatal HIV diagnosis on postpartum childbearing desires in northern Tanzania: a mixed methods study. Reproductive Health Matters. 2012;20(39 Suppl):39-49.
Roura M, Watson-Jones D, Kahawita T.M., Ferguson L, Ross D. Missed opportunities to accessing HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy during routine patient-provider encounters in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of the evidence. Tropical Medicine & International Health. 2011; 16:160-160. Conference proceedings. 7Th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health. Barcelona, Oct. 2011.
Roura M, Nsigaye R, Nhandi B, et al. "Driving the devil away": qualitative insights into miraculous cures for AIDS in a rural Tanzanian ward. BMC public health. 2010;10:427.
Roura M, Busza J, Wringe A, Mbata D, Urassa M, Zaba B. Barriers to sustaining antiretroviral treatment in Kisesa, Tanzania: a follow-up study to understand attrition from the antiretroviral program. AIDS patient care and STDs. 2009;23(3):203-210.
Roura M, Urassa M, Busza J, Mbata D, Wringe A, Zaba B. Scaling up stigma? The effects of antiretroviral roll-out on stigma and HIV testing. Early evidence from rural Tanzania. Sexually transmitted infections. 2009;85(4):308-312.
Roura M, Wringe A, Busza J, et al. "Just like fever": a qualitative study on the impact of antiretroviral provision on the normalisation of HIV in rural Tanzania and its implications for prevention. BMC international health and human rights. 2009;9:22.
Nsigaye R, Wringe A, Roura M, et al. From HIV diagnosis to treatment: evaluation of a referral system to promote and monitor access to antiretroviral therapy in rural Tanzania. Journal of the International AIDS Society. 2009;12:31.
Wringe A, Roura M, Urassa M, Busza J, Athanas V, Zaba B. Doubts, denial and divine intervention: understanding delayed attendance and poor retention rates at a HIV treatment programme in rural Tanzania. AIDS care. 2009;21(5):632-637.
Roura M. HIV Interventions in Low Prevalence Countries. A case study: Albania. 186. International Social Science journal. 2008 ; 4 :703-713.
Roura M. Comments on the article "Impact Socio-Economique de l'Epidemie de SIDA en Afrique Subsahariane sur les Femmes et les Enfants. Proposition d'un Cadre Conceptuel”. Journal d’Economie Medicale. 2003; 21:313-316.