CEEISCAT, Catalunya, Spain

Work packages 5 and 8

Community Health Worker review and survey analysis

The Centre d’Estudis Epidemiològics sobre les ITS i la SIDA de Catalunya (CEEISCAT) was founded in 1994 as a support unit for the Health Department of the Government of Catalonia for all surveillance activities related to HIV and STIs and it is located in the Campus de Can Ruti in Badalona. The Center develops its programmatic activity under the Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya (ASPC) and its research one under the Institut de Recerca Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP) and it is attached to the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). CEEISCAT is part of the CIBERESP network on Public Health Reserach of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and it is recognized as a consolidated research institution by the Agència de Gestió d’Ajust a les Universitats i Recerca (AGAUR). The Center has a multidisciplinary team and during last years has been either coordinating or participating in different European Projects. Currently is the Main Partner, of the Euro HIV EDAT project (2014-2017) co-funded by the European Commission being its main purpose to generate operational knowledge to better understand the role and impact of CBVCTs across Europe, as well as to study the use of innovative strategies based on new technologies and social networks, to increase early HIV/STI diagnosis and treatment among the most vulnerable groups. CEEISCAT had also been the main partner of the HIV-COBATEST project (2010-2013) (www.cobatest.org) also co-funded by the European Commission, which its main purpose was to promote early diagnosis of HIV infection in Europe by improving the implementation and evaluation of community-based testing practices. Additionally, CEEISCAT has been the Spanish Associated Partner in EMIS, SIALON I and SIALON II projects.

Key staff
Dr. Jordi Casabona is the Scientific Director of the CEEISCAT. In 2002 he was the Co-President of the XIV International AIDS Conference and since 2004 he is the Technical Director of the Fundació Sida I Societat (www.sidaisocietat.org) from which he implemented a number of interventions in Guatemala. He is member of the Executive Committees of COHERE and of the “HIV in Europe” initiative and he is teaching epidemiology and public health at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) since 1992. He has been involved as a Principal Investigator in other 7 Projects funded by the EU Commission: HIV community-based testing practices in Europe (HIV – COBATEST) (2010-2013), Operational knowledge to improve HIV early diagnosis and treatment among vulnerable groups in Europe (EURO-HIV-EDAT) (2014-17), European Project on Non-Occupational Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV (EURO-NONOPEP) (2001-2004), Syringe Exchange Programs in Southern European Countries (PESESUD 1 and 2) (1996-2000), Risk factors for Kaposi's sarcoma in AIDS patients: a European case-control study (EUROSHAKS 1 and 2)(1993-1997).

Cinta Folch, MPH, PhD, is an epidemiologist at the Center for Epidemiological Studies on STIs, HIV and AIDS of Catalonia, Spain (CEEISCAT). She coordinates bio-behavioural HIV/STI surveillance studies among vulnerable populations since 2002 (men who have sex with men (MSM), female sex workers (FSW) and intravenous drug users (IDU)) and has published several national and international articles in this field. She has extensive experience of European funded projects participating actively in EMIS, SIALON I and SIALON II projects. Her main areas of expertise include: HIV/STI Monitoring and Evaluation; Bio-behavioral Surveillance, Sexual Health, Community-based voluntary and counseling centers, vulnerable populations (MSM, IDU, FSW, migrants, and youth).

Nicolas Lorente, PhD, is a public health researcher at the Center for Epidemiological Studies on STIs, HIV and AIDS of Catalonia, Spain (CEEISCAT). He previously worked on new combined prevention strategies in men who have sex with men (MSM), focusing on the diversification of the HIV testing offer (community-based and home-tests), and pre-exposure prophylaxis implementation (PrEP) in France. Since he arrived at CEEISCAT in 2014, he has been coordinating the COBA-Cohort (a pan-European cohort of HIV-negative MSM implemented in the framework of the EU funded Euro HIV Edat Project) and contributed to other projects of the CEEISCAT related to community-based testing and drug use.

Percy Fernández Dávila, PhD, is a psychologist. He specializes on psychological research. His work is mainly focused on applied qualitative research. He has participated in diverse international projects, as the EMIS in 2010, and has publications on issues such as masculinity, sexual behaviour, HIV-risk, MSM, sex work, and migration. He is also involved in HIV/STI prevention activities addressed to MSM in Spain. Currently he is in charge of Research Department of the LGTB organization Stop Sida and works at Centre for Epidemiological Studies on Sexually Transmitted Infections and AIDS in Catalonia (CEEISCAT) in Barcelona.

Jorge Palacio-Vieira, PhD is a former member who collaborated on the scoping review on community health workers in Europe.