DrJoana Almeida

I became a part of the School of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Bedfordshire in January 2018, following my tenure as a Teaching Fellow in Sociology at Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that, I was a Mildred Blaxter Postdoctoral Researcher at the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness in 2013/2014 and a visiting lecturer in Sociology at RHUL. I completed my PhD in Health Sociology at Royal Holloway, University of London, in 2012. Before that, I earned both my MSc and BSc in Sociology in my home country, Portugal.

My professional trajectory and expertise have been centred in the field of Sociology of Health, Sociology of the Professions, and qualitative sociological research. My research interests primarily lie in the dynamics of professional work, regulation and the forces driving change particularly within low-status health professions. My doctoral research explored the dynamics among the medical profession, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners, and the State within the Portuguese healthcare system. Subsequently, I expanded my research by conducting comparative research between Brazil and Portugal, focusing on the governance and regulation of CAM practices. More recently, my research interests have broadened to include an understanding of the social determinants of health and health inequalities, and the theoretical underpinnings of addictive behaviours, with a particular focus on prescription drugs and the medical use of cannabis.

I have been the Course Coordinator for the BSc (Honours) Integrated Health and Social Care at the Bedford campus since 2021/22. My teaching philosophy adopts an inclusive and interactive approach where I try to intertwine my teaching and research, believing that the two mutually enrich each other. I am genuinely passionate about the transformative power of education and how it shapes the lives of students.

I am recognised as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Professionally, I am affiliated with the British Sociological Association, the International Sociological Association, the European Sociological Association, and the Portuguese Sociological Association. Additionally, I am a research member of the Institute of Applied Social Research (IASR) and the Institute for Health and Wellbeing Research (IHWR) at the University of Bedfordshire, and a member of the Institute for International Responsible Leadership (MIRL). In 2023, I was elected the Vice-President of the ISA RC15 Executive Board (Research Committee Sociology of Health) for four consecutive years.