Quique Bassat

Quique Bassat

Institut de Salut Global Barcelona

Life & Medical Sciences

Quique Bassat is an ICREA Research Professor at the Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal). He has a degree in Medicine from the Universitat de Barcelona (UB, 1999), a specialization in pediatrics (UaB, 2004), and Masters in Tropical Medicine and International Health (UB, 2004) and Epidemiology (LSHTM, 2008). He obtained his PHD in the year 2009 (UB) with work on the treatment and clinical characterization of malaria in Africa. He has been based for several years at the Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), in Mozambique, where he currently conducts most of his research, although in recent years he has started projects in other countries, including Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Brazil or Bhutan. 


Research interests

As a paediatrician, my research is based on the premise that there is no greater public health intervention than that which can reduce child mortality, particularly in poor contexts. I have worked in LMICs (Mozambique, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Brazil and Bhutan) to understand and prevent malaria, pneumonia and other infectious diseases that most impact child survival. I’m interested in biomarkers of host response as diagnostic and prognostic tools to help risk stratify children and better prioritize care. My research has included the clinical development of malaria vaccines and new or repurposed drugs and drug-based strategies for malaria and other IDs. To improve the poor existing data on the causes of child mortality. we have developed and implememted in resource constrained settings the minimally invasive autopsy (MIA) method for mortality surveillance purposes. During the pandemic, I've been particularly inetrested in studying transmission and pediatric COVID-19 disease.

Selected publications

- Taylor, Allan W; Blau, Dianna M; Bassat, Quique; Onyango, Dickens; Kotloff, Karen L; Arifeen, Shams El; Mandomando, Inacio; Chawana, Richard; Baillie, Vicky L; Akelo, Victor; Tapia, Milagritos D; Salzberg, Navit T; Keita, Adama Mamby; Morris, Timothy; Nair, Shailesh; Assefa, Nega; Seale, Anna C; Scott, J Anthony G; Kaiser, Reinhard; Jambai, Amara; Barr, Beth A Tippet; Gurley, Emily S; Ordi, Jaume; Zaki, Sherif R; Sow, Samba O; Islam, Farzana; Rahman, Afruna; Dowell, Scott F; Koplan, Jeffrey P; Raghunathan, Pratima L; Madhi, Shabir A; Breiman, Robert F 2020, 'Initial findings from a novel population-based child mortality surveillance approach: a descriptive study.', The Lancet. Global Health, 8, 7, e909 - e919.

- Galatas, Beatriz; Saute, Francisco; Marti-Soler, Helena; Guinovart, Caterina; Nhamussua, Lidia; Simone, Wilson; Munguambe, Humberto; Hamido, Camilo; Montana, Julia; Muguande, Olinda; Maartens, Francois; Luis, Fabiao; Paaijmans, Krijn; Mayor, Alfredo; Bassat, Quique; Menendez, Clara; Macete, Eusebio; Rabinovich, Regina; Alonso, Pedro L.; Candrinho, Baltazar; Aide, Pedro 2020, 'A multiphase program for malaria elimination in southern Mozambique (the Magude project): A before-after study', Plos Medicine, 17, 8, e1003227.

- Levine MM, Nasrin D, Acácio S, Bassat Q, et al. 2020, 'Diarrhoeal disease and subsequent risk of death in infants and children residing in low-income and middle-income countries: analysis of the GEMS case-control study and 12-month GEMS-1A follow-on study', Lancet Glob Health. 8, 2, E204 - E214. 


Selected research activities

The epidemiology and clinical characterization of COVID-19 in children, its transmissibility from and to children, and the clinical development and evaluation of new drugs and vaccines for COVID-19. Also media dissemination activities for society in general, and advise to government on childrelated issues regarding COVID-19, as spokesman of the Spanish Pediatrics Association.