News

11/01/2022 - General information

Dr. Antònia Domingo-Salvany awarded White Cross of the Order of Merit from the Spanish National Plan on Drugs

The Government Delegation for the National Plan on Drugs has awarded the White Cross of the Order of Merit to Dr. Antònia Domingo-Salvany, who was the coordinator of the Epidemiology of Drugs of Abuse Research Group at the IMIM until 2017. This is public recognition and thanks for the work she has accomplished over a career spanning almost 30 years in the field of substance use epidemiology.

Dr. Domingo has made a major contribution to our understanding of the extent and impact of drug use in the population, including aspects related to violence and illegal drug market activities, and has collaborated in the implementation of appropriate health initiatives. With her group, she has conducted studies to assess the magnitude of drug use in the population, contributing to the knowledge of its consequences, including psychiatric comorbidities, the presence of blood-borne infections, and quality of life-related health impairment. She has also been involved in studies that sought to evaluate tools for detecting substance use disorders in various settings, as well as potential associated psychiatric problems.

Dr. Antònia Domingo.

Dr. Jordi Alonso, director of the Epidemiology and Public Health Programme at the IMIM explains "In addition to being an extraordinary colleague, Antonia Domingo has been an excellent researcher and creator of original, relevant and useful knowledge to help us understand and mitigate the impact of addiction both in Spain and internationally." He adds that, "For the researchers in the programme, Antonia Domingo is a model of rigour and perseverance in research and a benchmark in the mentoring of young people who want to dedicate themselves to epidemiological research."

Until 2017, Antònia Domingo-Salvany was the coordinator of the IMIM's research group on the Epidemiology of Drugs of Abuse. She graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1975, obtained a diploma in Public Health in 1979, and, after 4 years' experience at Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona, she specialised in Internal Medicine. She obtained her doctorate in February 1993, while she was working at the IMIM. She had previously worked as an epidemiologist at the then Municipal Health Institute, now the Barcelona Public Health Agency. Although she retired in 2017, she continued to collaborate with the IMIM.

We congratulate Dr. Domingo-Salvany for this well-deserved recognition and we thank her for her work over the years.

More news