Fundación Pondera is leading the creation of the first Planetary Health research center in Ecuador.

Fundación Pondera Staff

Fundación Pondera is heading the project that by 2023 will see the light of the first Planetary Health research center in Ecuador in collaboration with other healthcare organizations foundations, associations, and teaching institutions all over the world.

The Franklin Tello Hospital located in Nuevo Rocafuerte (Ecuador), close to the Peruvian border, is the physical scenery for this research center. It will have innumerable links with universities, and research centers covering the study of different disciplines that influence health (biology, veterinary medicine, anthropology, sociology, political science, economy…).

The doctor and biologist Manuel Amunarriz has been working more than 40 years as a doctor, researcher, and teacher in the Ecuadorian center. He has published a vast number of publications causing impact in different fields and we can consider him the seed of this project that now is led by the Dr. Guzmán Bernabeu who has followed the line of investigation drawn by Dr. Amunarriz.

Javier Valbuena, the president of Fundación Pondera, explains the aim of the research center: “we want to create a research center that combines all the aspects that we can think of that act as influencers on health of the human being, both in its physical dimension and in its environment”.

The project has been welcomed by the Public Health, and Environment department of the WHO (World Health Organization), whose Director Dr. María Neira has shown great interest in its development. Fundación Pondera is finalizing the business plan of the research center taking into account the viability, and the sustainability of the project. Once approved, its development will begin with the aim that the new center will start operating in the second half of 2023.

During the first edition of the International Conference on Planetary Health held in Andorra. Conference of Planetary Health held on the 12th and 13th of May in Andorra, our president, Javier Valbuena presented the project on the 5th Round Table: The Planetary Health Research Center in the Amazon Basin.

The 5th Round Table was focused on Biodiversity and Social Indicators for a Healthier Planet.

This great event was organised by Ministry of Health (Govern d’Andorra), SAAS — Servei Andorrà Atenció Sanitària, Andorra Recerca + Innovació | Andorra Research + Innovation.

World Health Organization, UNICEF, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Escola de Salut Pública Menorca, World Veterinary Association (WVA), World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), EUPHA — European Public Health Association, Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Fundación Pondera and University of Leicester.

Click on this link to view our president’s presentation on the Planetary Health Research Center (watch it from 2h 58 min:45 seconds).

We hope to keep you informed about the progress of the project.