Author: Raquel Lucas

Full Blog:

Name: Raquel Lucas

Position: Principal Researcher

University: University of Porto, Portugal

IEA member since: 2011

IEA committee roles: European Councillor (2024-2027)

Research topics of interest: Epidemiology; Rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders; Birth cohorts; Chronic pain 



How did your career in social medicine/population health begin?

 I began my higher education with a degree in pharmacy, which included an Erasmus internship abroad in analytical chemistry, where I developed an interest in scientific research. After I left the bench, I became interested in the populational aspects of human health and disease, and I joined the University of Porto as a research trainee. There, I collected data from a community-based cohort of adults and earned a Master’s degree in Epidemiology on postmenopausal hormone therapy use in the cohort. Later, I did an internship at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe HIV/AIDS & STI Programme in Denmark, and I collaborated on several Portuguese and European projects in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention and care. This led to my later joining the executive committee that set up the Lisbon Cohort of MSM to study the dynamics of new HIV infections over time, by bringing together a community-based organization (GAT-Portugal) and my academic institution, the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto. For several years, I also took part in a completely different project that monitored the implementation of the national policy for rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders. In 2012, I received my PhD in Public Health from the University of Porto for an investigation of bone physical properties throughout adolescence in the population-based EPITeen cohort. By then, I was sure that I wanted to be an academic epidemiologist. In the meantime, I also became part-time lecturer in epidemiology and public health, and I remain so to this day.

What is your research area and what excites you most about it?

 Nowadays, our research group works mainly on the epidemiology of chronic musculoskeletal pain. Together with researchers at different career stages, we use longitudinal data to refine the definition of pain phenotypes and trajectories in population-based samples of children and adolescents. We also test the role of different potential influences on pain experiences, from growth and organic disease to family dynamics and other social determinants. Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a major cause of disability worldwide. Yet, in both population and clinical settings, there is a well-known dissociation between the extent of identifiable organic lesions and the severity of subjective pain experiences. This gap supports an understanding of chronic musculoskeletal pain as a syndrome rather than a symptom, which develops throughout life, can be transmitted from one generation to the next, results from organic and psychosocial influences, and features physical suffering as a main manifestation, even in the absence of an organic lesion. I am excited by the possibility that our research can help frame chronic pain as a population health issue that can be prevented and managed through public health policy.

How has the IEA influenced your career journey and what have you got out of being an IEA member?

 I first took part in an initiative supported by the International Epidemiological Association as a PhD student in 2008, when I participated in the workshop “Epidemiology in the new century: a perspective from the young European epidemiologists”, as part of the European Educational Programme in Epidemiology. It was conceived and organized by Rodolfo Saracci and had a distinguished faculty, including Jørn Olsen, whom I mention in light of his recent passing. There have been other IEA training initiatives over the years, but I remember that one very fondly as an incredible opportunity to meet several people who shaped epidemiological thinking as it is today. Later, I was also part of the organising committee of the 2012 European Congress of Epidemiology, which had the support of IEA. Over the years, I have attended several of the IEA’s World Congresses of Epidemiology, where I have met colleagues from around the world, heard inspiring lectures, and presented our work (Porto Alegre 2008, Edinburgh 2011, Anchorage 2014, and Cape Town 2024). As the current IEA Councillor for the European region, I know I am biased, but for me, being a member of IEA has been an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas with a network of hundreds of epidemiologists across Europe and beyond, and to learn about training and job opportunities, as well as to attend regional and world epidemiology meetings.

What advice would you give to someone just starting their career in social medicine/population health?

 I would first congratulate them on their choice, especially in an era when population thinking, epidemiology and statistics often seem to be rebranded as opaque concepts such as data science. My first advice would be to keep in mind the social contract of epidemiology with population health. This contract is the reason epidemiologists need to learn to do good science, which in our case means knowing how to reason about causes of disease and learning methods to achieve less biased causal inference. I also think it is important to try to understand where data come from before analysing them, both by being involved in all phases of research, including primary data collection, and by talking to people, whether mentors, colleagues or research participants.

Tell us a (fun) fact about yourself that is unrelated to your career.

 There aren’t many fun facts about me, but for some reason, I have a cocktail named after me (or, more accurately, after my research) at one of Porto’s historic bars. It’s called Spice Bones and it may or may not contain alcohol.