Joana Almeida

Dr. Joana Almeida is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Studies at the University of Bedfordshire's School of Applied Social Sciences, part of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. She previously held roles at Royal Holloway, University of London, including a Mildred Blaxter Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Her research focuses on health professions regulation, CAM integration into healthcare systems, and health inequalities. She coordinates the BA (Hons) Health and Social Care program and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Her education includes a PhD in Medical Sociology from Royal Holloway (2012), an MSc in Communication, Culture, and IT from ISCTE-IUL (2004), and a BSc in Sociology from the University of Coimbra (1997). Professional affiliations include the British Sociological Association and the International Sociological Association (ISA RC15), where she serves as Vice-President.

Research interests span professionalization dynamics, CAM policy, and social determinants of health. Recent work explores foot health inequity through intersectionality frameworks and CAM use among breast cancer patients. She has secured research funding for projects on community care during the pandemic and CAM perceptions in cancer care.

Teaching expertise includes modules on health sociology, research methods, and health inequalities. She co-supervises PhD students on topics like men’s mental health seeking behavior and eating disorders in parent-child relationships. Her work bridges academia and practice, emphasizing transformative education and socially engaged research.