Angel Martinez-Hernaez

Angel Martinez-Hernaez is a Professor of Anthropology at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain), where he leads the Medical Anthropology Research Center. His work focuses on collective mental health, biomedical cultures, biopolitics, and health policies in Europe and Latin America. He holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the Universitat de Barcelona (1994) and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley (1996–1997).

Research Interests: His interdisciplinary research spans medical anthropology, qualitative methodologies, and global health equity. Key areas include the socio-cultural dimensions of mental health, the impact of neoliberal policies on healthcare systems, and participatory research methods. He has pioneered studies on antidepressant use among youth and the reform of psychiatric systems in Egypt and Brazil.

Funding & Grants: Dr. Martinez-Hernaez has secured over a dozen competitive grants since 2010, including funding from the European Commission (SYNCOHS project, 2019–2021), la Caixa Foundation (‘La Gestió Col·laborativa de la Medicació,’ 2017–2020), and the Spanish Ministry of Science. Recent projects explore digital mental health in adolescents and structural competency frameworks for epidemiological research.

Labs/Teams: As director of the Medical Anthropology Research Center, he coordinates interdisciplinary teams investigating health systems, biopolitical practices, and participatory health interventions. His work integrates anthropological theory with policy analysis to address global health inequities.