Portal del Investigador
ANDRES ERNESTO ROMAN URRESTARAZU
Principal Investigator
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, Reino Unido
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Psychiatry, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. Reino Unido, 2014
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Management, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. Reino Unido, 2025
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Health Policy & Economics, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE (LSE). Reino Unido, 2008
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Medico Cirujano, UNIVERSIDAD DE SANTIAGO DE CHILE. Chile, 2006
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Medicina, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. Chile, 2003
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Entrepeneurship, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. Reino Unido, 2017
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Senior Research Associate and Group Leader Mental Health | Policy | Economics Group Full Time
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Medicine
Cambridge, Reino Unido
2014 - At present
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Assistant Professor Part Time
UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHT
CAPHRI
Maastricht, Holanda
2016 - At present
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Harkness Fellow Full Time
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Medicine
Palo Alto, Estados Unidos
2020 - 2021
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Profesor Visitante Other
PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE
Medicina
Santiago, Chile
2024 - At present
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Senior Clinical Fellow Full Time
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Foundation Trust
Cambridge, Reino Unido
2019 - At present
To align with the FONIS 2025 expectations on capacity building?
Our proposal will leverage Dr. Andres Roman-Urrestarazu’s extensive academic, teaching, and mentorship experience to generate tangible and sustainable growth in human capital across multiple levels. Here’s how we’ll frame this:
1. Internal Capacity Development within the Project Team
Dr. Roman-Urrestarazu has a long-standing role as a graduate tutor and dissertation supervisor at prestigious institutions like the University of Cambridge and Maastricht University. He currently supervises:
One PhD student per year in Psychiatry and Public Health.
Multiple MPhil and MSc students in Public Health and Epidemiology annually?
.
In our FONIS project, we will:
Embed thesis projects for Chilean MSc and MPhil students, ensuring the research directly supports the project’s aims.
Involve early-career researchers in key roles (e.g., data analysis, literature synthesis), offering them authorship opportunities and mentoring on methodology, scientific writing, and presenting at conferences.
2. External Capacity Building in Clinical and Public Health Settings
Given his role as:
Special Advisor to the Chilean Ministry of Health on autism policy,
Consultant for WHO Europe on workforce frameworks,
Former director of studies at Cambridge, and organizer of numerous international training events?
,
Dr. Roman-Urrestarazu will lead:
Targeted workshops for primary care professionals and health administrators in Chile, focusing on applied research methods, data interpretation, and implementation of research results.
Development of evidence-based protocols that local health services can adopt, facilitating institutional learning.
3. Institutional Strengthening and Networking
His affiliations with institutions such as Cambridge Public Health, LSE Health Digital, and the Autism Research Centre allow for:
International exposure for Chilean collaborators, through joint publications, online seminars, and visiting scholar opportunities.
Strengthening local research institutions by supporting them in setting up new interdisciplinary teams and helping integrate them into global networks (e.g., INSAR, WHO collaborative centres).
4. Equity and Regional Development Focus
As part of the proposal’s commitment to regional inclusion, capacity-building will emphasize the recruitment of trainees from underserved regions in Chile and ensure that at least part of the research activity (e.g., fieldwork, dissemination) is conducted outside Santiago, aligning with FONIS regional development goals?
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Let me know if you’d like this translated into proposal text, or integrated into the justification of objectives or expected outcomes.
Dissemination & Transfer Plan
1. Academic Dissemination
Dr. Roman-Urrestarazu is a senior author with over 80 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals, including The Lancet Psychiatry, JAMA Pediatrics, and Autism Research?
. Based on this, we will:
Publish at least two scientific articles derived from the project in international, peer-reviewed journals, prioritizing open-access platforms.
Present findings at leading international conferences—e.g., INSAR (International Society for Autism Research), the World Congress of Public Health, and Latin American regional conferences.
Host a dedicated seminar series through the University of Cambridge’s Cambridge Public Health and the Pontific Catholic University of Chile, promoting south-north dialogue.
2. Policy & Practice Transfer
Leveraging Dr. Roman-Urrestarazu’s roles as:
Ministerial Advisor on Autism to the Chilean Ministry of Health,
WHO Europe Consultant on public health workforce policy,
Harkness Fellow experienced in U.S. and UK health system knowledge translation,
We will ensure our results:
Are translated into actionable briefs for the Ministry of Health, aligned with Chile’s Decade of Health Objectives and the Elige Vivir Sano programme.
Feed into existing national and regional health strategies, including through direct presentations to health authorities and inclusion in ministerial technical roundtables.
Result in a toolkit or clinical guideline draft, ready for pilot adoption in primary care or public health settings.
3. Professional and Community Engagement
To ensure uptake beyond academia:
We will organize regional dissemination workshops for primary care teams, with tailored summaries and use cases.
Summaries of results will be developed in Spanish and accessible formats, and circulated via digital channels and health professional networks.
An online public briefing—using social media, a short video, and an infographic—will target patient groups and civil society.
4. Sustainability and Legacy
To maximize long-term transfer:
Project tools, datasets (where ethically permissible), and teaching materials will be hosted on an open-access repository maintained through Dr. Roman-Urrestarazu’s research group and institutional platforms (e.g., Cambridge Open Engage).
The project will build a collaborative bridge between Chilean institutions and Cambridge, encouraging follow-up projects and policy dialogues.
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Harkness Fellowship
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Estados Unidos, 2020
Andres Roman-Urrestarazu, M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc., is a 2021–22 U.K. Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, where he studied at Stanford University. The focus of his study was Health System Responses to the Opioid Epidemic in the United States Andres is an academic psychiatrist, public health doctor, and Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge. He is also an Assistant Professor at Maastricht University and an Honorary Consultant Clinical Academic Staff at Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. He was previously a Gillings Fellow in Global Public Health (2016–2020). He is a Member of the Faculty of Public Health and a Board Member of the International Society for the Study of Emerging Drugs (ISSED), and worked as Civil Servant in the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation (CHTE) at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). His research lies at the intersection of health policy and public mental health, with a focus on the intersection of health inequalities and the economic determinants of adverse mental health outcomes in the field of substance use and addiction. His work has been published in leading health policy and medical journals, including JAMA Pediatrics, BMJ, and Health Policy, and has directly informed policy. In 2016, he submitted evidence to the House of Commons for the UK Psychoactive Substances Act. He has a Ph.D. in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge, M.D. from the University of Santiago in Chile, and M.Sc. in International Health Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. The opioid epidemic is among the most pressing public health problems in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 1999 and 2019 nearly 500,000 people died of opioid overdose, with deaths increasing 28.8 percent in 2020. Despite the urgent need for improving the accessibility and uptake of opioid misuse treatment, systemic barriers persist, particularly with respect to the type and mode of treatment available. Opioid agonist treatments (OATs), such as methadone or buprenorphine, are cost-effective and evidence-based, especially when compared to abstinence-based treatments. Nevertheless, OATs have historically been subject to heightened scrutiny in the U.S. and are strictly regulated by the Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA). The primary aim of Andres’ project was to investigate how Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) have been implemented at the federal and state levels, and how recent policy reform has dealt with this public health challenge. The key findings were a model of assessing effective coverage for mental health and substance abuse services and a quantitative analysis in the role that private equity and venture capital play in provider responses. His work as Harkness Fellow has already been published in JAMA Pediatrics and Lancet Child and Adolescent Health. He also used his time in Palo Alto to expand his skills in machine learning and artificial intelligence methods.
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Gillings Fellowship
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Reino Unido, 2015
?The Lady Mireille and Sir Dennis Gillings Global Public Health Fellowship is a distinguished two-year postdoctoral program designed to cultivate the next generation of public health leaders by integrating scientific research with business and financial acumen. This fellowship is a collaborative initiative involving the University of Cambridge, the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Concordia University, the Institut Pasteur in Paris, and the Pasteur Foundation U.S. Fellowship Overview Duration: Two years Location: Primarily based at the Institut Pasteur in Paris Eligibility: PhD graduates within the past two years from: University of Cambridge UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Concordia University Program Objectives The fellowship aims to equip early-career scientists with: Scientific Excellence: Engagement in cutting-edge public health research, particularly in areas like infectious diseases and neuroscience. Business and Financial Skills: Training in leadership, management, and entrepreneurship to effectively translate scientific discoveries into practical health solutions. Global Collaboration: Opportunities to work within an international network, fostering cross-border and interdisciplinary partnerships. As Lady Mireille Gillings emphasized, the fellowship focuses on the "3Ms": management, money, and medicine, underscoring the importance of blending scientific expertise with business savvy to drive impactful public health initiatives.
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Glynn Jones Scholarship
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Chile, 2023
The Glynn Jones Scholarships at Downing College, University of Cambridge, are prestigious awards established to support members of the college who wish to pursue further education in business and management. These scholarships are named in honor of Thomas Glynn Jones, a benefactor who endowed the fund to assist students aiming to advance their careers in these fields. Eligibility and Purpose: Open to individuals who have completed an undergraduate or postgraduate degree at Cambridge University as members of Downing College. Designed for those intending to undertake further study in business and management, such as MBA programs or equivalent qualifications. Applicants who have already begun careers in these areas may also apply if additional education is likely to enhance their professional development. Scholarship Details: Awards are typically granted for courses lasting up to two years. The scholarship amount is linked to course fees, travel expenses, and maintenance costs, with consideration of the applicant's financial resources and any other scholarships or bursaries received. Applications for courses starting from September of a given year should be submitted by June 1 of that year.
Inaccurate prevalence estimates impacts autism policy: A letter to the editor in relation to "Global prevalence of autism: A systematic review update" by Zeidan et al. (2022) |
Gabriel Gatica
Profesor Asistente
Sección de Psiquiatría del Niño
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Santiago, Chile