Azucena Bardají

Azucena Bardají is a clinical researcher at ISGlobal's Maternal, Child and Reproductive Health Initiative and Programme. Her work focuses on diseases affecting vulnerable populations, particularly those linked to poverty, such as malaria in pregnancy, HIV/AIDS impact on maternal-infant health, and maternal immunization strategies. She has pioneered studies on Zika virus effects during pregnancy and contributed to understanding Group B Streptococcus burden in low-income settings. Her research bridges epidemiology, clinical interventions, and public health policy.

Research interests include: 1) Malaria pathophysiology in pregnancy (Plasmodium species), 2) Maternal vaccine efficacy and safety, 3) Emerging infections like Zika and SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy, 4) HPV vaccine acceptability in adolescents, and 5) Global health interventions in resource-limited regions. Current projects include PregVax (maternal vaccine evaluation), RESPIRE (respiratory syncytial virus prevention), and VITAL (group B streptococcus vaccine studies).

Notable contributions include defining malaria burden in pregnancy across Africa and South America, documenting long-term neurodevelopmental risks from Zika exposure, and quantifying GBS invasive disease outcomes. Her work emphasizes translating research into scalable health policies.