Zelia Muggli

Zelia Maria Araújo da Silva Muggli is a medical doctor with a degree in medicine from the University of Lisbon. She has over 20 years experience  in  Paediatrics and Community Child Health  in various countries. Holder of a Master’s Degree in Health and Development (IHMT-UNL)  she is currently a PhD student in International Health (IHMT-UNL) and a researcher.

In 2019 and 2020 she was the fieldwork coordinator in the first cohort study in the Lisbon area investigating  health trajectories of immigrant children, a project which gained  financing from the European Commission  Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund ( PT/2018/FAMI/350). Since then she has been involved in follow-up  data collection  and communication of the study results.

Following her Masters  dissertation (2015) written on health professionals perceptions of the  impact of economic crisis on child’s health in the Lisbon area she conducted further research in 2016-17 on this subject.

From  2018  to date she has co-supervised 5 MSc Health and Development dissertations.

She has been regularly participating and attending scientific events on health, migration and equity such as the  European and World Public Health congresses and most recently  the WHO Global School on Refugee and Migrant Health ( Oct.2021).

From 1989 to 2009 she held several clinical, training and advisory roles in paediatrics in Portugal, UK, Oman and Holland. These included clinical needs evaluation of children at risk such as refugees.

She is a Member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and of the Global Society on Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Health.

Member of the Population Health, Policies and Services Group (PPS) . Research activities contribute to SDGs 3 and 10.

Main areas of interest: health determinants and child health, health inequalities, migrant child health, child development and mental health, cohort studies, health policies.

Current research : Member of the team carrying out cohort studies on migrant child health in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area involving the ACES of Amadora and ACES Arco Ribeirinho. These studies are coordinated by Prof. Maria Rosário Oliveira Martins .

The study in ACES Amadora follows the health trajectories of 420 children, 52% are immigrant children. It has also been evaluating the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the socioeconomic dynamics and healthcare access of the families participating in the study.

Past research: Perception of health professionals and parents on the impact of economic crises on child health – studies conducted in ACES Sintra, ACES Amadora and ACES Almada-Seixal. Results on the study in ACES Almeida-Seixal were presented on the 5º National Congress of Tropical Medicine ( Lisbon, 2019).

1. Muggli Z, Mertens T, Sá S, Amado R, Teixeira AL, Vaz D, O Martins MR. Migration as a Determinant in the Development of Children Emotional and Behaviour Problems: A Quantitative Study for Lisbon Region, Portugal. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 6;18(2):375. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18020375
2. Z Muggli, R Amado, M R Oliveira Martins, M Pires, D Vaz. The health of immigrant children: a cohort study in the metropolitan area of lisbon – Portugal, European Journal of Public Health, Volume 30, Issue Supplement_5, September 2020 https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaa166.787
3. Shaaban AN, Dias SS, Muggli Z, Peleteiro B, Martins MRO. Risk of Readmission Among HIV Patients in Public Portuguese Hospitals: Longitudinal Multilevel Population-Based Study. Front Public Health. 2020 Feb 21;8:15. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00015