Prof. Dr. Ria Reis is a medical anthropologist and senior fellow at the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD). Most of her work articulates anthropological research within multidisciplinary health research and interventions, particularly in collaborative projects with partners in policy and practice. Over the past two decades, her research has shifted from epilepsy and disability studies to young people’s health perceptions and strategies and the transgenerational transmission of vulnerabilities and resilience in contexts of inequality and regions affected by epidemics, disasters, conflicts, and violence.
In EAPoC-VL she leads work package 2 on feasibility and acceptability, together with Dr. Marion Sumari-de Boer (KCRI). She also leads AIGHD work in WHO-PEN@Scale on syndemic processes and the implementation of the WHO’s package of essential NCD interventions for primary health care in Eswatini. In South Africa, she is an Honorary Professor at the Children’s Institute of the University of Cape Town (UCT). In 2021 she retired from her position as Professor of Medical Anthropology at Leiden University Medical Center, and as Associated professor at the University of Amsterdam’s Department of Anthropology. At the latter department, she was PI of the social science component of the MaxART Universal Test and Treat Implementation study program and of two consecutive projects in Burundi, on the intergenerational transmission of violence and the effectiveness of sexuality education respectively.