Maria Leonor Varela Lema

Maria Leonor Varela Lema is a Professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela within the Faculty of Nursing, affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry, Radiology, Public Health, Nursing and Medicine. She holds a PhD from the same university (2009) focusing on genetic susceptibility to oropharyngeal cancers under the guidance of Dr. Alberto Ruano Raviña and Dr. Juan Miguel Barros Dios. Her research is centered in the ESPASS Research Group (Epidemiology, Public Health and Health Services Evaluation).

Her work spans Health Technology Assessment (HTA), medical innovation evaluation, evidence-based healthcare practices, and genetic epidemiology. Key areas include systematic reviews of dialysis modalities, aortic valve replacement techniques, and PET imaging applications in neurology. She has contributed to developing quality assessment scales for clinical studies and frameworks for prioritizing healthcare technologies.

Her publications emphasize methodological improvements in healthcare evaluation, including validated PubMed search strategies for emerging technologies and observational frameworks for post-implementation technology assessment. She has collaborated extensively with Spain's Galician HTA Agency (avalia-t) to align HTA practices with clinical needs.

Her educational background combines epidemiology with clinical research, reflecting a career focused on translating scientific evidence into actionable healthcare policies and practices.