Summary

Launched in 2017, the Salud Urbana en América Latina (SALURBAL) or Urban Health in Latin America Project 2017-2023 convened faculty, students, and staff at Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health and from partner institutions across Latin America and the United States. SALURBAL engaged over 200 professionals from multiple disciplines to study the ways urban environments and urban policies impact the health of city residents throughout Latin America. SALURBAL collected and harmonized data from 371 cities in 11 countries, allowing the team to examine differences in health and wellbeing both between and within urban areas. Our dissemination and policy outreach activities engaged diverse stakeholders across Latin America to ensure that project findings inform policies and interventions to create healthier, more equitable, and more sustainable cities.

SALURBAL 2017-2023 was funded by the Wellcome Trust [205177/Z/16/Z] and led by Ana Diez Roux, MD, PhD, MPH, Director of the Urban Health Collaborative and Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology at the Dornsife School of Public Health.

Institutional partners

• Universidad Nacional de Lanús, Argentina
• Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil
• Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil
• Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
• Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
• Universidad de Chile, Chile
• Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
• Instituto de Nutrición de Centroamérica y Panamá (INCAP), Guatemala
• Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (INSP), Mexico
• Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru
• Drexel University, USA
• Washington University at St. Louis, USA
• University of California at Berkeley, USA
• Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), USA

Research Approach and Data Resources

SALURBAL analyzed urban data and uses systems approaches to understand the dynamic relationships between urban environments, health, equity, and environmental impacts.

SALURBAL’s policy evaluation studies helped understand the health and environmental impacts of six city and neighborhood-level policies and interventions over time.

The SALURBAL data portal includes social, economic, environmental, and health indicators compiled and harmonized across 11 countries. This data is free and publicly available. To learn more, visit the SALURBAL data portal.

The SALURBAL team produced more than 100 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, policy briefs, and data briefs. Key findings were disseminated in English, Spanish, and Portuguese via press releases, blog posts, a regular newsletter, and across social media channels. Local dialogues, regionally-focused webinars, and other events convened urban health stakeholders throughout the region to discuss the relevance of project findings for decision making.

Research Team

• Ana V. Diez Roux, Principal Investigator
• Amy Auchincloss, Co-Investigator
• Sharrelle Barber, Co-Investigator
• Usama Bilal, Co-Investigator
• Andrea Bolinaga, Senior Communications Specialist
• Autumn Ciarrocchi, Business Administrator
• Maria Fernanda Cruz, Project Manager
• Jose Tapia Granados, Co-Investigator
• Dustin Fry, Doctoral Research Fellow
• Katy Indvik, Senior Climate and Policy Specialist
• Diana Higuera-Mendieta, Doctoral Research Fellow
• Jana Hirsch, Co-Investigator
• Josiah Kephart, Co-Investigator
• Jennifer Kolker, Co-Investigator
• Brent Langellier, Co-Investigator
• Mariana Lazo, Co-Investigator
• Ran Li, Data Analyst
• Gina Lovasi, Co-Investigator
• Kevin Martinez-Folgar, Doctoral Research Fellow
• Steve Melly, GIS Specialist
• Yvonne Michael, Co-Investigator
• Kari Moore, Director, Data and Analysis
• Ana Lucia Peralta, Doctoral Research Fellow
• Harrison Quick, Co-Investigator
• Alex Quistberg, Co-Investigator
• Jordan Rodriguez, Senior Data Analyst
• Brisa N. Sanchez, Co-Investigator
• Ivana Stankov, Co-Investigator
• Jessica Uruchima, Data Manager
• Goro Yamada, Senior Scientist

See the SALURBAL team page for a full list of collaborators. 

Learn More About SALURBAL

In late 2023, the SALURBAL team was awarded five additional years of funding to continue exploring the impacts of climate change on health and health inequities in Latin America. See SALURBAL-Climate to learn more about our current work.

Visit the SALURBAL website

Download a project summary