Raquel Martins Lana

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Biography

Raquel Martins Lana is a Beatriu de Pinós Postdoctoral Fellow in the Global Health Resilience (GHR) group led by Prof. Rachel Lowe. Raquel's background is in quantitative epidemiology. She investigates the relationship between climate, environment, health, and socio-economic factors in the emergence, transmission and spread of infectious diseases. She works in HARMONIZE and Mosqlimate projects at BSC, and collaborates in SinBiose, Infodengue, Infogripe, and Syphilis in indigenous population from Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in Brazil.

Raquel obtained a PhD in Epidemiology in Public Health at the National School of Public Health in 2017 (ENSP/Fiocruz-RJ, Brazil). Her thesis combined global and local epidemiological studies to understand malaria's geographical retraction and maintenance and the introduction and spread of dengue in the Brazilian Amazon Basin. During the PhD, She won a CNPq scholarship to spend six months at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (UK). Her thesis was awarded the 2017 Oswaldo Cruz Thesis Award. 

She was a postdoctoral researcher in the Scientific Computing Program (PROCC/Fiocruz-RJ, Brazil) and a visiting researcher at the Center for Integration of Data and Knowledge for Health (CIDACS/Fiocruz-Bahia, Brazil) from September 2018 to February 2022. During this period, Raquel researched malaria transmission heterogeneity throughout Brazil, collaborating on developing a malaria transmission model to measure the impact of tafenoquine implementation in Brazil. She visited the Pasteur Institute (Paris) to develop the transmission model with leading experts in the field. Also, she worked on the Infodengue alert system, improving the dengue epidemiological profile classification and developing weather-driven mathematical models for Aedes aegypti population dynamics and dynamic transmission models for dengue. Dr. Lana served as an adviser to the Brazilian government in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, working in Infogripe. 

Raquel also worked as a lecturer at the Department of Public Health at the University of Brasília (2018) and in the Post-graduate Epidemiology in Public Health program from the National School of Public Health, Fiocruz (2019-2021). Since 2019, She has co-supervised master and PhD students from Fiocruz and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil. 

 
 

Education

Ph.D. in Epidemiology (2013-2017)
Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz/Brazil) / Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM/UK)
Thesis: Malaria and dengue in Acre: analysis of spatial and temporal dynamics in a rapid changing state.
Supervisors: Cláudia Torres Codeço and Nildimar Alves Honório (Fiocruz) and Gabriela Gomes (LSTM)
Successfully defended: 07 April 2017.

Post-graduate diploma in Economics and Environment (2011-2012)
Federal University of Paraná/Brazil

Msc. in Ecology (2007-2009)
Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP/Brazil)
Dissertation: Dynamic coupled models for simulating the ecology of the Aedes aegypti vector.
Supervisors: Tiago Garcia de Senna Carneiro (UFOP) and Claudia Torres Codeço (Fiocruz)
 
Bsc. in Biology (2002-2006)
Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP/Brazil)
Dissertation: Influence of ecological factors on the establishment of Aedes aegypti.
Supervisors: Sérvio Pontes Ribeiro, Américo Trsitao Bernardes and Romuel Machado.

Research

EXPERIENCE
 
 
Posdoctoral researcher, Scientific Computing Science (PROCC), Infogripe group, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Nov 2020 – Feb 2022)
I was a postdoctoral researcher in the Infogripe alert system project specifically in a sub project entitled “Development of analytical methods in epidemiological surveillance to assess patterns of transmission dynamics and mitigation strategies of COVID-19 in Brazilª funding by INOVA covid-19 Geração de conhecimento, coordinated by Dr Leonardo Soares Bastos (PROCC/Fiocruz) and Dr Marcelo F. C. Gomes (PROCC/Fiocruz). The Infogripe project is a commissioned project by the
Ministry of Health. The goal is to develop analytical methods to improve the surveillance of acute respiratory syndromes in Brazil. Currently, the focus is to provide fast analytical knowledge to inform COVID-19 mitigation strategies. Since March 2020, our group developed a collection of reports (5), articles (8), book chapter (2) and outreach material in response to this public health emergency. Particularly, I have worked on the characterization of the populations at risk during the introduction phase, and later, contributed to the identification of priority groups for vaccination. I also assessed the synchronicity of the epidemic in different settings, first in the Rio de Janeiro state, and later, in the whole of Brazil. I continue the collaboration with the group as a researcher and co-supervising a master student (Lea de Freitas).
 
Visiting researcher (CIDACS), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Jul 2021 – Mar 2022)
As a visiting researcher in the project “Improvement of the indigenous health care subsystem, through the development of technical studies, scientific research, and strategic actions, essential for the diversification, expansion, and quality of health services provided to indigenous”, I have been worked on the development of a model for the calculation of risk factors for syphilis using a national health database linked to socioeconomic data and contributing to the conception of an estimation of subnotification method (manuscript in preparation) and also a quality evaluation of the data. The project is funded by Programa INOVA Fiocruz and Chamada para submissão de propostas Nº 1/2021 - Saúde Indígena Encomendas Estratégicas, coordinated by Dr Andrey Moreira Cardoso (ENSP/Fiocruz).
 
Researcher in SinBiose syntesis center in Biodiversity, Brazil (Mar 2020 - current)
I am a researcher in the project Ecosystem and environmental services as health services: competing land-use trajectories for the Amazon Biome and their link to vector-borne diseases funding by Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq) CNPQ MCTIC - Síntese em biodiversidade e serviços ecossistêmicos - SinBiose and coordinated by Dr Cláudia Torres Codeço (PROCC/Fiocruz). The project starts in March 2020 and will finish in October 2022. I contributed to the epidemiological
analysis, conception and writing of the first paper (Codeço et al 2021, see below) and I supported the multivariate analysis and epidemiological data consolidation of the second (accepted) and third paper in preparation.
 
Researcher in SESYNC, USA (Ago 2018 – Ago 2020)
I was a researcher in the project “Synergistic interactions of environmental degradation, socio-economic development and infectious disease dynamics in the Amazon region” that investigated the mechanistic linkages between land-use changes, socioeconomic conditions, human decision-making, and infectious diseases in frontier regions of the Amazon. The project was funded by National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), University of Maryland, and coordinated by Dr Mercedes Pascual (University of Chicago) and Dr Andrés Baeza (Arizona State University). I contributed to the consolidation of a set of secondary databases, several debates and contextualization of the Amazon situation, studies design conception, analysis, and papers.
 
Posdoctoral researcher, Scientific Computing Science (PROCC), Infodengue group, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Sep 2019 – Oct 2020)
As a postdoctoral researcher in the project “Actions to strengthen integrated surveillance of arboviruses” funding by Brazilian Ministry of Health and Fiocruz 2019 INOVA coordinated by Cláudia Torres Codeço (PROCC/Fiocruz), I conducted a literature review of introduction and spreading of chikungunya in Brazil and analyzed the incidence data using descriptive methods. As a part of the project, I also co-supervised a MSc. project developing a methodology for classifying arbovirus transmission profiles and a Ph.D. project developing a climate-driven mathematical transmission model for dengue. I continue to collaborate with the group as a researcher, co-supervising 3 PhD students and in the context of HARMONIZE project.
 
Posdoctoral researcher in Scientific Computing Science (PROCC), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Sep 2018-Ago 2019)
The candidate was a postdoctoral researcher in the project “Mathematical modeling to assess the impact of tafenoquine on Plasmodium vivax in Brazil” funding by Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). The project was coordinated by Dr Daniel Villela (PROCC/Fiocruz) and Dr Ivo Mueller (Pasteur Institute/Paris). As a postdoctoral researcher, I characterized malaria incidence from 2003 to 2018 in Amazon Basin in terms of its temporal, spatial patterns, and risk groups. This supported the development of a mathematical model to estimate scenarios for the introduction of tafenoquine as a first treatment for symptomatic malaria cases in the Brazilian Amazon. 
 
Researcher assistant in PRONEX Dengue Project (Jun 2010 – Feb 2013)
I was a researcher assistant in the project Development of Mathematical Models for Application in Dengue Control funding by Edital MCT/CNPq nº 73/2009 - PRONEX - Rede Dengue and coordinated by Cláudia Torres Codeço (PROCC/Fiocruz). My main contribution was the development to mathematical models for weather driven Aedes aegypti mosquito ecology. I published a paper in JIDM.
 
PAPERS
 
Published papers
  • Hoek Spaans R., Drumond B., van Daalen K.R., Rorato Vitor A.C., Derbyshire A. et al. (2024) Ethical considerations related to drone use for environment and health research: A scoping review protocol. PLOS ONE 19(1): e0287270. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287270
  • Barcellos C., Matos V., Lana R.M., Lowe R. Climate change, thermal anomalies, and the recent progression of dengue in Brazil. Sci Rep 14, 5948 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-56044-y
  • Amaral L.F., Lana R.M., Bastos LS. Was the COVID-19 pandemic synchronous in space? An analysis in the health regions of the Rio de Janeiro state , 2020-2022. Rev Bras Epidemiol. 2024; 27: e240010. https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-549720240010.
  • Almeida I.F., Codeço C.T., Lana R.M., Bastos L.S., Oliveira S.S., Ferreira D.A.C., Godinho V.B., Riback T.I.S., Cruz O.G., Coelho F.C. (2023). The expansion of chikungunya in Brazil. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 25, doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2023.100571.
  • de Oliveira G.L., Ferreira A., Santos C.A.S.T., Fiaccone R., Lana R., Aquino R., Paixão E.S., Cardoso, A.M., Soares M.A., dos Santos I.O., Pereira M., Lima Barreto M., Ichihara M.Y.T. Estimating the Real Burden of Gestational Syphilis in Brazil, 2007 to 2018: Underreporting Correction in Official Data. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas (2023) Available at SSRN: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2023.100564
  • de Oliveira G.L., Ferreira A.J.F., Santana J.G., Lana R.M., Cardoso A.M., Teles C., Fiaccone R.L., Aquino R., Soares M.A.S., Paixao E.S., Santos I.O., Salvi L., Barreto M.L., Ichihara M.Y.. A completeness indicator of gestational and congenital syphilis information in Brazil. Rev Saude Publica. (2023) Jul 18;57:42. doi: 10.11606/s1518-8787.2023057004789. PMCID: PMC10355315.
  • Santos C.V.B., Valiati N.C.M., Guimarães de Noronha T., Porto V.B.G., Pacheco A.G., Freitas L.P., Coelho F.C., Gomes M.F., Bastos L.S., Cruz O.G., Lana R.M., Luz P.M., Carvalho L.M.F., Werneck G.L., Struchiner C., and  Villela D.M. The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against severe cases and deaths in Brazil from 2021 to 2022: a registry-based study. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2023.100465
  • Rorato A.C., Dal'Asta A.P., Lana R.M., dos Santos R.B.N., Escada M.I.S., Vogt C.M., Neves T.C., Barbosa M., Andreazzi C.S., dos Reis I.C., Fernandes D.A., Silva-Nunes M., Souza A.R., Monteiro A.M.V., Codeço C.T. Trajetorias: a dataset of environmental, epidemiological, and economic indicators for the Brazilian Amazon. Sci Data 10, 65 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-01962-1
  • Almeida I., Lana R.M., Codeço C.T. How heterogeneous is the dengue transmission profile in Brazil? A study in six Brazilian states, Plos Neglected Tropical Disease. 2022.
  • Codeco C.T., Oliveira S.S., Ferreira D.A.C., Riback T.I.S., Bastos L.S., Lana R.M., Almeida I.F., Godinho V.B., Cruz O.G., and Coelho F.C. Fast expansion of dengue in Brazil. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 12:100274, 2022.
  • Freitas L.P., Lana R.M., and Cruz O.G. Challenges for fighting chagas disease in the 21st century. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 117, 2022.
  • Lana R.M., Freitas L.P., Codeço C.T., Pacheco A.G., Carvalho L.M., Villela D.A.M., Coelho F.C., Cruz O.G., Niquini R.P., Porto V.B.G., Gava C., Gomes M.F.C., and Bastos L.S. Identification of priority groups for covid-19 vaccination in Brazil. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 37(10), 2021a.
  • Alves L.D., Lana R.M., and Coelho F.C. A framework for weather-driven dengue virus transmission dynamics in different Brazilian regions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(18):9493, September 2021.
  • Codeço C.T., Dal'Asta A.P., Rorato A.C., Lana R.M., Neves T.C., Andreazzi C.S., Barbosa M., Escada M.I.S., Fernandes D.A., Rodrigues D.L., Reis I.C., Silva-Nunes M., Gontijo A.B., Coelho F.C., and Monteiro A.M.V. Epidemiology, biodiversity, and technological trajectories in the Brazilian Amazon: From malaria to COVID-19. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, July 2021.
  • Nekkab N., Lana R.M., Lacerda M., Obadia T., Siqueira A., Monteiro W., Villela D., Mueller I., and White M. Estimated impact of tafenoquine for Plasmodium vivax control and elimination in Brazil: A modelling study. PLOS Medicine, 18(4):1–19, 04 2021.
  • Lana R.M., Nekkab N., Siqueira A.M., Peterka C., Marchesini P., Lacerda M., Mueller I., White M., and Villela D. The top 1%: quantifying the unequal distribution of malaria in Brazil. Malaria Journal, 20(1), February 2021b.
  • Gomes M.F.C., Codeço C.T., Bastos L.S., and Lana R.M. Measuring the contribution of human mobility to malaria persistence. Malaria Journal, 19(1), November 2020.
  • Lowe R., Lee S., Lana R.M., Codeço C.T., Castro M.C., and Pascual M. Emerging arboviruses in the urbanized Amazon rainforest. BMJ, page m4385, November 2020.
  • Coelho F.C., Lana R.M., Cruz O.G., Villela D.A.M., Bastos L.S., Pastore A.P., Davis J.T., Vespignani A., Codeço C.T., and Gomes M.F.C. Assessing the spread of COVID-19 in Brazil: Mobility, morbidity and social vulnerability. PLOS ONE, 15(9):e0238214, September 2020.
  • Niquini R.P., Lana R.M., Pacheco A.G., Cruz O.G., Coelho F.C., Carvalho L.M., Villela D.A.M., Gomes M.F.C., and Bastos L.S. Description and comparison of demographic characteristics and comorbidities in sari from covid-19, sari from influenza, and the Brazilian general population. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 36(7), 2020.
  • Bastos L.S., Niquini R.P., Lana R.M., Villela D.A.M., Cruz O.G., Coelho F.C., Codeço C.T., and Gomes M.F.C. Covid-19 and hospitalizations for sari in Brazil: a comparison up to the 12th epidemiological week of 2020. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 36(4), 2020.
  • Oliveira T.C., Abranches M.V., and Lana R.M. Food (in)security in Brazil in the context of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 36(4), 2020.
  • Lana R.M., Coelho F.C., Gomes M.F.C., Cruz O.G., Bastos L.S., Villela D.A.M., and Codeço C.T. The novel coronavirus (sars-cov-2) emergency and the role of timely and effective national health surveillance. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 36(3), 2020.
  • Castro M.C., Baeza A., Codeço C.T., Cucunubá Z.M., Dal’Asta A.P., De Leo G., Dobson A.P., Carrasco-Escobar G., Lana R.M., Lowe R., Monteiro A.M.V., Pascual M., and Santos-Vega M. Development, environmental degradation, and disease spread in the Brazilian amazon. PLOS Biology, 17(11):e3000526, November 2019.
  • Dal’Asta A.P., Lana R.M., Amaral S., Codeço C.T., and Monteiro A.M.V. The urban gradient in malaria-endemic municipalities in Acre: Revisiting the role of locality. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(6):1254, June 2018.
  • Lana R.M., Morais M.M., Lima T.F.M., Carneiro T.G.S., Stolerman L.M., Santos J.P.C., Cortês J.J.C., Eiras A.E., and Codeço C.T. Assessment of a trap based Aedes aegypti surveillance program using mathematical modeling. PLOS ONE, 13(1):e0190673, January 2018.
  • Lana R.M., Gomes M.F.C., Lima T.F.M., Honório N.A., and Codeço C.T. The introduction of dengue follows transportation infrastructure changes in the state of Acre, Brazil: A network-based analysis. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 11(11):e0006070, November 2017.
  • Lana R.M., Riback T.I.S., Lima T.F.M., Silva-Nunes M., Cruz O.G., Oliveira F.G.S., Moresco G.G., Honório N.A., and Codeço C.T. Socioeconomic and demographic characterization of an endemic malaria region in Brazil by multiple correspondence analysis. Malaria Journal, 16(1), October 2017.
  • Juvanhol L.L., Lana R.M., Cabrelli R., Bastos L.S., Nobre A.A., Rotenberg L., and Griep R.H. Factors associated with overweight: are the conclusions influenced by choice of the regression method? BMC Public Health, 16(1), July 2016.
  • Lima T.F.M., Lana R.M., Carneiro T.G.S., Codeço C.T., Machado G., Ferreira L., Medeiros L.C., and Davis Junior C. DengueME: A tool for the modeling and simulation of dengue spatiotemporal dynamics. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(9):920, September 2016.
  • Lana R.M., Carneiro T.G.S., Honório N.A., and Codeço C.T. Seasonal and nonseasonal dynamics of aedes aegypti in rio de janeiro, Brazil: Fitting mathematical models to trap data. Acta Tropica, 129:25–32, January 2014.
  • Santos L.M.S., Costa C.B., and Lana R.M. Reflexões sobre lixo, meio ambiente e sustentabilidade nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental. Pró-Professor, 1:22–37, 2012.
  • Lana R.M., Carneiro T.G.S., Honório N.A., and Codeço C.T. Multiscale analysis and modelling of Aedes aegypti population spatial dynamics. JIDM, 2:211–220, 2011.
Accepted paper
  • Freitas L.P., Codeço C.T., Bastos L.S., Villela D.A.M., Cruz O.G., Pacheco A.G., Coelho F.C., Lana R.M., Carvalho L.M., Niquini R.P., Almeida W., Silva D.A., Carvalho F.C., Gomes M.F.C. Avaliação do desenho da Vigilância Sentinela de Síndrome Gripal no Brasil.. CADERNOS DE SAÚDE PÚBLICA, 2024.
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Book chapters
  • Lana R.M., Codeço C.T., Santos R.V., Cunha B., Coelho F.C., Cruz O.G., Caldas A.D.R., Souza M.C., Bastos L.S., Pontes A.L.M., Gomes M.F.C., Tavares I.N., Dal’Asta A.P., Rorato A.C., Escada M.I.S., Carvalho L.M., Villela D.A.M., Damasco F.S., and Cardoso A.M. Vulnerabilidade das populações indígenas à pandemia de covid-19 no brasil e os desafios para o seu monitoramento. In C.M. Freitas, C. Barcellos, and D.A.M. Villela, editors, Covid-19 no Brasil: cenários epidemiológicos e vigilância em saúde, Informação para ação na Covid-19, chapter 7, pages 127–142. Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro: Observatório Covid-19 Fiocruz, 2021.
  • Codeço C.T., Villela D.A.M., Coelho F.C., Bastos L.S., Carvalho L.M., Gomes M.F.C., Cruz O.G., and Lana R.M. Estimativa de risco de espalhamento da covid-19 no brasil e avaliação da vulnerabilidade socioeconômica nas microrregiões brasileiras. In C.M. Freitas, C. Barcellos, and D.A.M. Villela, editors, Covid-19 no Brasil: cenários epidemiológicos e vigilância em saúde, Informação para ação na Covid-19, chapter 4, pages 75–84. Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro: Observatório Covid-19 Fiocruz, 2021.
  • Costa-Milanez C.B., Lana R.M., Maciel E.M.G.S., and Lourenço-Silva G. Educação ambiental na formação de pedagogos na modalidade a distância. In Sandra Augusta de Melo and Jorge Luis Costa, editors, Educação a distância e a formação de professores, chapter 6, pages 143–166. Appris, Curitiba, 2018.
 

Teaching

National School of Public Health, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2013–2021)
• Post-Graduation Program of Epidemiology in Public Health (2019–2021):
   Introduction of Epidemiology. Graduate level.
   Multivariate Analysis. Graduate level.
   Surveillance laboratory. Graduate level.
 
• Human Rights and Health Group (2013).
   Other courses: Environmental Justice, space occupation, social determinants and health.
   Undergraduate and Graduate level.
 
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasília (UnB), Brasília, Brazil (2018):
  General epidemiology. Undergrad level.
  Biology Fundamentals III. Undergrad level.
  Practices in Health. Undergrad level.
  Integrated Health Practices I. Undergrad level.
  Integrated Health Seminars I. Undergrad level.
 
Distancing Learning (2010–2021):
• Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (2021):
  Training course for the general population with a focus on health managers, entitled “InfoDengue e Infogripe: Vigilância de doenças transmissíveis”. The course provides training in methodologies for analyzing the situation of transmission of        arboviruses and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) used in the Infodengue and Infogripe alert systems.
  Contribution: organization and content.
 
Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil (2010–2011)
• Graduation in Pedagogy (2011).
  Supervisor of ten undergrad final projects in environmental education theme.
  Undergrad level.
 
• Sustainable Schools course (2010).
  Instructor.
  Undergrad and graduate level.
 
Environmental Education (2010):
Populations affected by mining, Environmental Attitude Program, VALE, Itabira, MG.
Course for the general public between 12 to 19 years old.
Contribution: teaching and instructional material elaboration.