qualifications: MD, MSc, MPH, PhD (c )
position: Director
department: OneHealth Global Research Group
Esteban Ortiz-Prado is a highly accomplished medical professional with a broad range of experiences and achievements. He completed his medical training in Ecuador and then secured a fully-paid NIH scholarship to pursue his Masters in Medical Science in Canada, specializing in hypoxia physiology. During his training, he attended several courses related to high altitude physiology, underwater physiology, and clinical investigation in the US and Canada. After returning to Ecuador, he worked as a medical resident for 18 months in the biggest publicly funded Specialization Hospital in Quito, Ecuador. He was involved in several clinical research projects during this time. In 2012, he was offered a full-time job as a senior scientific advisor to the Minister of Higher Education and Science in Ecuador. In this role, he helped create, observe and improve the biomedical public policy related to clinical and biomedical research. From 2013-2015, he competed for and was awarded the position of manager of the research and development department of Enfarma EP, the only government-funded pharmaceutical company in Ecuador. In this role, he led more than 30 R+D+I projects from discovery to Phase II-III clinical trials on the first Ecuadorian-made Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Hib vaccine. He also collected data on the pharmaceutical market and published the first article and book on the local and regional pharmaceutical market in Ecuador. In 2015, he was appointed as a staff professor at Universidad de la Americas (UDLA) in Quito, Ecuador. He founded the “One Health Global Research Group” center, which studies emergent, re-emergent and zoonotic diseases in Ecuador. This group has become well-recognized with over 200 publications to date. Esteban Ortiz-Prado was the first PhD student to take part in the Biomedicine Doctoral Program from Universitat de Barcelona to complete his PhD in Biomedicine in conjunction with his co-supervisor at UDLA in the field of tropical medicine. He was also the only medical doctor to pursue a full-time government-funded scholarship to study Global Health in Southampton, UK, obtaining the competitive Chevening scholarship. In 2020, he became the top scientific leader in Ecuador to study COVID-19, publishing over 35 articles on this disease and becoming one of the top 20 most prolific COVID-19-related researchers in Latin America, and the first one in Ecuador. He also became the best-known scientific and medical communicator during the pandemic, encouraging people to take care of themselves and take preventive measures, promoting health-related preventive practices, and hosting a prime-time health-related TV show and a health-related FM radio program. Throughout his academic career, Esteban Ortiz-Prado has actively participated in research projects with national and international funding, publishing more than 100 scientific articles and two book
Original Research 19 September 2024
Research Letter 3 October 2023
Original Research 26 September 2023
NRHA 36th Rural Health Policy Institute, 11–13 February 2025, Washington, DC, USA
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RWAV Conference 2025: Dreaming Big and Driving Change in Rural Healthcare, 19–21 February 2025, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
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2025 European Forum on Prevention and Primary Care, 5 & 6 March 2025, Zagreb, Croatia
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WONCA South Asia Region Conference 2025, 4–6 April 2025, Bengaluru, India
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9th European Young Family Doctors' Movement (EYFDM Forum), 25–27 April 2025, Grande Région
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WONCA Asia Pacific Region Conference 2025: Primary Care Transformation; Implementing High-value, High-quality Care!, 24–27 April 2025, Busan Korea
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National Rural Health Conference 2025, 2–3 May 2025, Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand
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NRHA 30th Health Equity Conference, 19–20 May 2025, Atlanta, GA, USA
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NRHA 48th Annual Rural Health Conference, 20–23 May 2025, Atlanta, GA, USA
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2025 International Rural Nursing Conference, 27–30 May 2025, Arlington, TX, USA
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BC Rural Health Conference 2025, 6–8 June 2025, Prince George, BC, Canada
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4th International Indigenous Health & Wellbeing Conference 2025, 16–19 June 2025, Adelaide Convention Centre, Kaurna Country, Australia
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14th EURIPA Rural Health Forum. Rural Reformation: Meeting Wellbeing and Healthcare Needs in Rural Communities, 26–28 June 2025, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
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Rethinking Remote 2025: Scotland's Rural Health Conference
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WONCA World Conference 2025: New Vision for Primary Health Care and Sustainable Development, 17–21 September 2025, Lisbon, Portugal
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NRHA 23rd Rural Health Clinic Conference, 23–24 September 2025, Kansas, MO, USA
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Rural Mental Health Conference 2025 (RMHC25), 5–7 November 2025, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
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4th EURACT Medical Education Conference, 23–25 April 2026, Iasi, Romania
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9th WONCA Africa Region Conference 2026, 10 & 11 September 2026, Gaborone, Botswana
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18th National Rural Health Conference, 14–17 September 2026, Adelaide, SA, Australia