I am ICREA Research Professor at the Medical Anthropology Research Center, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona. I am also Visiting Professor at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine of King’s College, London and at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. I received a MA from Universidad Complutense Madrid and a PhD in Philosophy from Bielefeld University. Before joining ICREA, I was full professor at the Institute for Social Medicine of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (1999-2021); and Associate Professor at the Federal University of Goiás in Brazil (1996-1999). I was invited professor at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, visiting professor at Bielefeld University, Oldenburg University, University of Buenos Aires, CSIC, Universidad de Chile, University of Campinas, and Fluminense Federal University. I am member of the Advisory Board of the Movement for Global Mental Health and the Steering Committee of Global Social Medicine Network
Research interests
I am involved in interdisciplinary projects at the interface between the Health and the Human Sciences with several institutions across the world. My research combines medical anthropology, history and philosophy of science, transcultural psychiatry, cultural and disability studies, public health and global health to develop an interdisciplinary framework for investigating 1) the interactions between global biopsychiatry and local psychiatric epistemologies; 2) the revitalization of social medicine as a vital intersection of social sciences, medical practice and policy; 3) the interfaces between the brain sciences and the human and social sciences; 4) the role of neuroscientific theories in the construction of personal and social identities; 5) the pragmatic negotiation of psychiatric diagnosis; 6) The challenges of primary health care after the COVID-19 pandemic around community health care, social participation and integration of health and social care.
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Selected publications
- Cifuentes A, Radiszcz E & Ortega F 2025, '"The University Lives Anxiety and De-pression": Diagnostic Uses and Affective Negotiations in Mental Health Care Services for University Students in Chile', Culture medicine and psychiatry.
- Ortega F, Bilbeny B, Albuixech R, Raya A, Barceló-Prats J & Djurdjevic M 2025, 'Integrating Community Health into Primary Care: Two Case Studies from Barcelona's Raval neighbourhood', Frontiers in Public Health (special issue: Empowering Community Stakeholders: Novel Approaches to Address Health Inequities), 13 - 1564009.
- De Oliveira IM, Pinheiro R, Ortega F & Santana ES 2025, 'Elements of misinformation in the public perception of the dengue vaccine in Brazil: an analysis of comments on social media', Cadernos de saude publica, 41 - 3 - e00097124.
- Evangelidou S, Martínez-Hernáez A & Ortega F 2025, 'Mental Health reform 2.0: Learning from the Global South', Nature Mental Health, 3, 753-755.
- Ortega F 2025, 'Primitivist tropes around community in global mental health controversies: the case of Brazil', Social theory & health, 23 - 1 - 4.
Selected research activities
Visiting Professor. Faculty of Social Sciences. University de Chile. Santiago, Chile (April 2025).
Conference organization: “Seminario internacional proyecto RETCOV: Retos de la atención primaria en el cuidado social y el sanitario. Participación social y salud comunitaria.” Universitat Rovira i Virgili (June 26, 2025). Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation
Succesful PhD supervision: Claudia Isabel Amaya Castellanos (URV); Giulia Campaioli (URV); Mauricio Alexis Carreño Hernández (URV). Successful supervision of 2 Master thesis at URV.
Speaker at O.P. Jindal Global University, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Universidad Carlos III, Museu de Ipiranga (São Paulo), Université Mohammed V (Rabat), Universidad de Cantabria, University of Oslo, URV, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Universidad de Chile, Freie Universität Berlin, University of Bologna.