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Writing / Irene Vega
The Rey Juan Carlos University is now listed as a partner of the OneHealth Platform (POH), an initiative that promotes activities aimed at effectively implementing the "One Health" strategy. Professor Yolanda Valcárcel, director of the high-performance group RiSAMA (Chemical Risks for Health and the Environment), has been appointed as a delegate by the URJC with the support of the Vice-Rector's Office for Research, Innovation, and Knowledge Transfer.
The One Health strategy aims to achieve greater protection of the health of people and ecosystems and reduce inequalities. In this sense, this vision is closely linked to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the 2023 Agenda, promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as with the World Organization for Animal Health, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme.
Professor Valcárcel has always highlighted, both in her research and in her teaching, the problem of not integrating environmental conflicts with the dangers to animal and human health. Therefore, she has spent years analyzing the main environmental risks that impact our health, among which the high exposure to chemicals and antimicrobial resistance stand out.
In recent years, RiSAMA has also organized various conferences and workshops for students and researchers with a "One Health" approach. They have recently launched a specialist course in collaboration with other URJC professors and external researchers, which combines the problem of chemical substances within the context of the search for Global Health, within the University's own training offerings.
Institutional support for the activities of the One Health Platform
The URJC will support the various actions promoted from this platform, such as its II National Congress, which will take place at the end of May at the Faculty of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Madrid. At this forum, the RiSAMA research group will present the initial results of a collaborative study with the University of the Basque Country on the presence of perfluorinated substances in tap water. These chemicals are found in household products such as water-repellent fabrics and non-stick materials like Teflon.
Furthermore, as the university is part of this platform, any URJC student, researcher, or professor who wishes to attend will be entitled to a reduced rate for both this event and subsequent activities organized by the platform.