CRETUS STAFF

Mónica Pérez Ríos

Associate Professor
Department  Psychiatry, Radiology, Public Health, Nursing and Medicine (Preventive Medicine and Public Health Area)
Centre: Faculty of Medicine
Research Group: ESPASS
Phone: +34 881 812277
Email: monica.perez.rios@usc.es
Group Website: Epidemiology, Public Health, and Health Services Evaluation

Mónica Pérez-Rios is an Associate Professor at the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC)-Spain, program director of the USC Master of Public Health and Academic Director of the Healthy Lifestyles Chair, funded by the Xunta de Galicia. She is an epidemiologist with a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health (USC-03). Her research is focused on the impact of different behavioral risk factors in health. Mónica Perez-Rios has maintained an intense research activity since 2020, with approximately 150 publications indexed in JCR journals, of which 60% derive from funded research projects, 48.6% are published in first-quartile journals, and 30% in first-decile journals (including Lancet Public Health, Lancet Oncology, Environmental Research, Chest, and Journal of Clinical Epidemiology). She has supervised 12 PhD dissertations in the field of non-communicable disease epidemiology, three of which received Extraordinary Doctorate Awards. She has completed research stays at Harvard University and the Brown School of Public Health (USA).

She is the principal investigator of 8 projects funded by Public (National and European) Competitive Calls. As a result of these projects, publications, and her coordination of the Tobacco Working Group of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology, Pérez-Ríos body of work has directly influenced the development and evaluation of public health policies aimed at quantifying the impact of tobacco consumption on health. She has participated in numerous contracts and agreements with public institutions, including the City Council of Santiago de Compostela, the Regional Ministry of Social Policy, the Regional Ministry of Health, and the Galician Health Technology Assessment Agency.

Monica Pérez Ríos is member of CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Santiago de Compostela node, since 2006, actively collaborating in joint and inter-CIBER projects. She also belongs to the Xunta de Galicia’s Competitive Reference Research Group “Epidemiology and Public Health”. She received the Spanish Society of Epidemiology Award for Best Epidemiology Article in 2020 and 2025, along with two national awards for best Master’s theses in Public Health.

In terms of innovation, has led a teaching innovation group, disseminating results to society through podcasts, infographics, and a dedicated research dissemination website (www.epideque.es). She is co-author of monographs and book chapters, including publications by the Spanish Ministry of Health, and has contributed to knowledge transfer tools such as Epidat 4.0.

Research Lines

• Epidemiology of noncommunicable diseases
  – Health impact of exposure to environmental carcinogens: Tobacco and Radon
  – Topography of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke