UB-ISGlobal 2024/2025 Master’s Programmes Celebrate Graduation Ceremony

Pride and excitement filled the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Barcelona (UB) on 4 July, as the graduation ceremony for the 2024/25 UB-ISGlobal Master's programme took place. This marked the successful conclusion of an intensive academic journey for 40 students from more than 20 countries who have been involved in the Master of Global Health, the tropEd Master of Global Health, and the Master of Clinical Research: International Health track —three programmes that are jointly offered by the University of Barcelona and ISGlobal.

Opening the ceremony, Núria Casamitjana, Director of the Master of Global Health and tropEd programmes, and Coordinator of the Clinical Research International Health track, congratulated the students on their hard work and progress, highlighting that she had seen them face and overcome challenges over the course of the year.

Quique Bassat, ISGlobal General Director, ICREA Research Professor and UB Professor, and co-Director of the Master of Global Health, was selected by the students as this year’s Faculty Speaker. He shared his professional journey in global health, encouraging the new graduates to follow their passion for health equity —a message of encouragement and reflection.

Finally, Anna Roca, ICREA Research Professor at ISGlobal, delivered a keynote speech, sharing her own experience as a researcher in the field and underlining the importance of resilience for those following a career in global health.

Representing the student body, Karim El Khaldi, Eris Navarro, and Amanda Miranda Martins delivered heartfelt speeches, recounting their experiences, challenges and shared aspirations with humour, gratitude and hope.

Final Projects: A Window into Global Health Challenges

From 30 June to 4 July 2025, students defended their master’s final projects before academic tribunals, presenting work that reflects the diversity and complexity of global health issues.

Master of Clinical Research: International Health Track:

• Associations Between Mental Distress, Lifestyle Factors, and Ultra-Processed Food Consumption Among Adults with Diabetes in Dakar, Senegal: A cross-sectional analysis and literature review
• Clinical impact of viral haemorrhagic fevers on paediatric populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis
• Clinical Validation of AmpliFAST: A new Point-of-Care PCR Test for Group B Streptococcus Detection
• Developing quantitative point-of-care sensors for the diagnosis of Malaria
• Do spaces shape health? A European perspective on indoor and outdoor physical activity and adolescent health-related quality of life
• Health Care Providers’ Experiences of Managing Non-Communicable Diseases in Suhum Municipality: A qualitative study of hypertension and diabetes mellitus
• Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices on Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment (TPT) Uptake among Healthcare Workers in Embu Level 5 Hospital, Kenya
• Profiling Head and Neck Cancer Patients in Brazil: A Comparative Analysis of Public and Private Healthcare Systems (HEADsPAcE)
• Rethinking Fetal Weight Estimation: Empowering Midwives with the Dare Formula
• Sex-associated differences in anti-spike IgG Antibody Responses to Fractional versus Full COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters: a Secondary Analysis of the FRACT-COV Trial in Healthy Brazilian Adults
• The Science-Policy interface in the COVID-19 management: lessons learned
• Stigma-Associated Anxiety and Depression in a National HIV Cohort in Italy
• Using Extracellular Vesicles to Identify Potential New Biomarkers in Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections

Master of Global Health / tropEd Master of Global Health:

• Assessing the CST-HIV Tool for Long-Term HIV Care in Italy’s ICONA Cohort
• The care sector in Spain, a catalyzer for social change
• Childhood Outdoor Air Pollution Exposure Across Multiple Microenvironments and Metabolic Syndrome. A HELIX Cohort Analysis
• Community-Based Interventions for Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean: A scoping review
• Conflict-Driven Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Among Children Under Five in Sudan: A Literature Review
• Differential Etiopathogenic Factors of Vulvar Squamous Cell Carcinomas in Eastern and Western Europe
• Digital health to support decision making to improve the maternal, newborn and child continuum of care in low and middle-income countries
• Do Tourniquet Guidelines Address Prolonged Field Care? Implications of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict for Low-Resource Settings
• Effectiveness of Humanitarian Food Aid During Conflicts and Crisis: A Narrative Literature Review on Tigray, Ethiopia
• Evaluation of the Malaria Vaccines Implementation in Ghana: A narrative literature review analysing strengths and weaknesses for an effective, equitable and sustainable public health intervention
• Evaluating the Impact of Mental Health Policy Implementation on Youth Major Depression Outcomes in the United States
• Global Health Governance and Health Equity in the Context of Covid-19 in South America: A Scoping Review
• Health Systems Impact and Response During Industrial Disasters: The Beirut Port Explosion
• Heat-related illnesses among migrant agricultural workers in Spain: findings from semistructured interviews
• Knowledge and identification of cases of NOMA, a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD), among health professionals in Latin America: a cross-sectional survey
• Longitudinal changes in motivational determinants of sustainable diets during a blended digital behaviour change intervention: a mixed-methods study
• Maternal and Infant Health Risks from Agrochemical Water Contamination: Mitigating the Health Impacts of Brazilian Agricultural Practices
• The Perception of Indian and Ghanaian Migrant Populations about Migrant Health Data Collection in Catalonia, Spain
• Polio Elimination in Pakistan: Achievements, Failures & Lessons Learned
• Prevalence and Diagnostic Timing of PVL-Positive Staphylococcus aureus Skin Infections
• Quality of life in pediatric leukaemia survivors: A scoping review of an actual challenge
• Strengthening the Oral Health Workforce for Filipino Children: Insights from Scotland and Thailand 
• Tuberculosis Cascade of Care: Understanding the gaps in TB care to avert mortality in the WHO African region
• Understanding the Behavioural, Social and Structural Factors Influencing HPV Vaccine Uptake Among Adolescent Girls in Sierra Leone: Recommendations for a Sustainable, Culturally Sensitive Campaign
• Understanding Factors Influencing HPV Vaccine Uptake in Sub-Saharan African countries: a narrative review

A Global Network of Future Leaders

With graduation complete, these 40 alumni now join a growing international network of global health professionals prepared to contribute to equity, innovation and transformation in health systems worldwide.