Technical Director, Fundación Octaedro
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0516-3090
EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Health Promotion, Aarhus University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
M.A. Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
B.A. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Global Society on Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Health, Member of the International Council
Health Systems Global, Member of the Steering Committee of the Health Systems in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings Thematic Working Group
Ecuadorian Society of Public Health
RESEARCH
July 2021-April 2023
Research project: Regional assessment of priorities related to global change policy decisions and research.
Role: Key contributor – online surveys, sub-regional listening sessions, and analysis of policy documents. Led by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research.
August 2020-December 2023
Research project: Health response to Venezuelan migration.
Role: PI in Ecuador. Funded by UKRI and DFG (German Research Foundation).In partnership with Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (Peru), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá (Colombia), Universidad del Desarrollo (Chile), University of Giessen (Germany).
March 2020- December 2022
Study: Evaluation of Ecuador’s response to COVID-19.
Role: PI. In partnership with researchers from with Upstate Medical University (laboratory capacity study), Los Alamos National Laboratory (modelling), Ecuadorian Society of Public Health (data analysis), Oregon State University (data analysis), Women in Global Health (data analysis), Universidad de Costa Rica, FIOCRUZ (Brazil), Universidad de las Américas (Chile), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
July 2020-December 2020. CARE.
Study: Mixed-method evaluation of cash transfers, health services access and vulnerabilities of the migrant population in Ecuador.
June 2019- July 2020. State University of New York, Upstate Medical University
Scoping Study: Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Origin
Role: Research consultant — lead of field logistics and study implementation, IRB processes in country, qualitative data collection, database procurement, contribution to analysis and manuscript writing. PI: Anna Stewart-Ibarra / Ramya Bhargava (SUNY Upstate Medical University).
February 2019- December 2019. Fundación Octaedro.
Research project: Continuity evaluation of the Health on the Go Program of the District of Quito.
Role: Co-PI. Funded by Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (Alliance HPSR) and the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR).
May 2018-October 2018. SOS Aldeas de los Niños Ecuador
Baseline study: Health, nutrition, wellbeing and social indicators in the province of Azuay, Ecuador.
Role: Key collaborator – Evaluation of national program in marginalized areas.
January 2018-December 2018. Department of Health, Metropolitan District of Quito- Universidad Internacional del Ecuador-Fundación Octaedro.
Study: Nutritional practices of public school students in the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador
Role: PI. Research design, data collection and analysis, and reporting of results.
January 2011-July 2012 Wageningen University
Study: Positive deviance to catalyze sustainable nutrition in the Andes. Funded by NWO-WOTRO (the Netherlands).
Role: Key collaborator – Research design, fieldwork and data analysis.
January 2013-July 2014. SIGTIERRAS-Ministry of Agriculture of Ecuador
Role: Key collaborator – Evaluation of communication preferences and social indicators in rural areas of 15 provinces of Ecuador.
August 2010-December 2010. Inter-American Development Bank
Role: Research design for study on small rural schools for the Ministry of Education of Ecuador.
July 2010-July 2011. Cooperativa Jardín Azuayo. Paute, Ecuador.
Role: Key collaborator. Baseline study in education, communication and social indicators in 35 rural communities of Ecuador.
EDITED BOOKS & BOOK CHAPTERS
Torres I, Pinto-Alvarez M, Romero-Alvarez D, López-Cevallos DF (2025). Chapter 15: Health and Healthcare in Ecuador. In: Foley T, Tresidder A, Bozeman L. Health and Healthcare Systems – A Global View, 1st ed. New York, NY: Springer. https://www.springerpub.com/health-and-healthcare-systems-9780826174734.html
Alonso C, Torres I, Profeta B. When women lead in global health: alternative mobilizations. In Stewart-Ibarra A, LaBeaud AD. Infectious Disease Work in a Changing World: People, Pathogens and Partnerships. 2024. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53793-6_21
Torres I, López-Cevallos D. Migración y salud en Ecuador (Migration and Health in Ecuador). In Cubillos A, Eguren J, Ochoa C (Eds). Los desafíos de la migración a la salud pública en Iberoamérica en tiempos de la COVID-19 (The challenges of migration to public health in Ibero-America in times of COVID-19). Editorial Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.
https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.9789587817973
Giorgi J, Torres I (Eds). Climate change impacts in Latin America and the Caribbean. 2022. Latinoamérica 21 / Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://www.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/EN-Climate%20change%20impacts%20in%20Latin%20America%20and%20the%20Caribbean.pdf
Giorgi J, Torres I (Eds). Impactos da mudança climática na América Latina e no Caribe. 2022. Instituto Interamericano para a Pesquisa em Mudanças Globais / Latinoamérica 21.
https://www.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/PT-Impactos%20das%20mudan%C3%A7as%20clim%C3%A1ticas%20na%20Am%C3%A9rica%20Latina%20e%20no%20Caribe.pdf
Giorgi J. Torres I. (Eds). Impactos del cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe. 2022. Instituto Interamericano de Investigación para el Cambio Global / Latinoamérica 21. https://www.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/EN-Climate%20change%20impacts%20in%20Latin%20America%20and%20the%20Caribbean.pdf
Torres I , Giorgi J (Eds). Health, Climate and the Environment in Latin America and the Caribbean. 2024. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, World Meteorological Organization, Latinoamérica 21. https://www.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/COMPENDIO 2024-ING web.pdf
Torres I , Giorgi J (Eds). Saúde, clima e meio ambiente na América Latina e no Caribe. 2024. Instituto Interamericano para a Pesquisa em Mudanças Globais, Organização Meteorológica Mundial, Latinoamérica 21.
https://www.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/COMPENDIO 2024-PORT con isbn_web.pdf
Torres I , Giorgi J (Eds). Salud, clima y ambiente en América Latina y el Caribe. 2024. Instituto Interamericano de Investigación para el Cambio Global, Organización Meteorológica Mundial, Latinoamérica 21. https://www.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/COMPENDIO 2024-ESP web.pdf
Cañizares B, Torres I, Faucher C. School Violence and Wellbeing in three Ecuadorian towns: Children’s perceptions and policy approach. In McLellan R, Faucher C, Simovska S. Wellbeing and Schooling: Cross Cultural and Cross Disciplinary Perspectives. 2022. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95205-1_11
Torres I, Lopez-Cevallos D, Sacoto F. Conducting Embedded Health Promotion Research: Lessons Learned from the Health On the Go Study in Ecuador. In Potvin L, Jourdan D (Eds.). Global Handbook of Health Promotion Research, Vol. 1, 2022. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97212-7_17
Arroyo Laguna J, Portes A, Cabieses B, Cubillos A, Torres I. La migración venezolana en los Andes. La respuesta sanitaria de Perú, Chile, Colombia y Ecuador [Venezuelan migration in the Andes. The health response in Peru, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador]. Fondo Editorial PUCP; 2022. https://www.fondoeditorial.pucp.edu.pe/categorias/1267- la-migracion-venezolana-en-los-andes.html
Ruge D, Torres I, Powell D. (Eds.). School Food, Equity and Social Justice: Critical Reflections and Perspectives (1st ed.). Routledge; 2022. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003112587
Torres I, Powell D, Ruge D. International perspectives on school food: A matter of equity and social justice. In Ruge D, Torres I, Powell D (Eds.). School Food, Equity and Social Justice: Critical Reflections and Perspectives. Routledge; 2022. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003112587
Torres I, López-Cevallos DF. School food approaches in Peru, Colombia and Ecuador: Intentions, illusions and uncertainties. In Ruge D, Torres I, Powell D. (Eds.). School Food, Equity and Social Justice: Critical Reflections and Perspectives. Routledge; 2022. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003112587
Carlsson M, Torres I. Exploring the idea of school meals as an element of educating for viable futures. In Ruge D, Torres I, Powell D (Eds.). School Food, Equity and Social Justice: Critical Reflections and Perspectives. Routledge; 2022. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003112587
Powell D, Torres I, Ruge D. Our visions for school food. In Ruge D, Torres I, Powell D (Eds.). School Food, Equity and Social Justice: Critical Reflections and Perspectives. Routledge; 2022. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003112587
ARTICLES
Suryadevara M, Wang D, Fajardo FP… Torres I, Domachowske J. Medically Attended Outpatient Parainfluenza Virus Infections in Young Children from a Single Site in Machala, Ecuador. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025;22(6):821. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22060821
Suryadevara M, Wang D, Fajardo FP… Torres I, Domachowske J. Clinical, Meteorological, and Air Quality Factors Associated with Ambulatory Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Machala, Ecuador, 2018-2023. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025;22(2):272. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22020272
Pinto-Alvarez M, Torres I, López-Cevallos DF. Protecting Distress Migrants’ Right to Health in Ecuador: Are Legal Commitments Being Fulfilled? Health and Human Rights. 2024. 26(2), 121–132. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48826228
Torres I, Pinto-Alvarez M, López-Cevallos DF. Protecting migrant children’s well-being in Ecuador’s public schools. J Migr Health. 2024;10:100247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmh.2024.100247
Torres I, Kloft, S., Kumar, M., Santosh, A., Pinto-Alvarez, M. and López-Cevallos, D.F. (2024), COVID-19 school closures in Latin America: untangling approaches impacting student health and wellbeing. Health Education, Vol. 124 No. 3/4: 160-182. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-01-2024-0006
Khan MS, Naidu T, Torres I, Noor MN, Bump JB, Abimbola S. The Lancet and colonialism: past, present, and future. Lancet. 2024;403(10433):1304-1308. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00102-8
Sorensen C, Barboza C, Berry P, et al. Pan American climate resilient health systems: a training course for health professionals. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2024;48:e83. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2024.83
Torres I, Villalba JJ, López-Cevallos D, Galea S. Governmental institutionalization of corporate influence on national nutrition policy and health: a case study of Ecuador. The Lancet Regional Health – Americas. 2023; 29: 100645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2023.100645
Romero-Alvarez D, Lopez-Cevallos D, Torres I. Doctors for the people? The problematic distribution of rural service doctors in Ecuador, Health Policy and Planning, Volume 38, Issue 7, August 2023, Pages 851–861, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czad040
Serrano Córdova C, Lopez-Cevallos D, Torres I. Exploring the Impact of Ecuador´s Policies on the Right to Health of Venezuelan Migrants during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review, Health Policy and Planning, 2023; czad071, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czad071
Mastrángelo ME, Torres I, Borbor-Cordova M, Hurlbert MA, Silva J, Stewart Ibarra A. M. (2024). Global environmental change policy priorities from the Americas and opportunities to bridge the science-policy gap. Ecosystems and People, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2024.2354309
Larenas-Rosa D, Cabieses B, Torres I, Cubillos-Novella A, Arroyo J. 2023. Condiciones de vida de la población migrante venezolana en situación irregular y percepciones sobre la respuesta sanitaria brindada durante la pandemia de SARS-CoV-2 en Chile. PERIPLOS. Revista de Investigação sobre Migrações, 7(2), 257-284. https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/obmigra_periplos/article/view/48679
Suryadevara M, Fajardo FP, Aponte CC, et al. Etiologies of outpatient medically attended acute respiratory infections among young Ecuadorian children prior to the start of the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2022; https://doi.org/10.1111/irv.13056
Abou Ghayda, R, Lee, KH, Han, YJ, et al. Global case fatality rate of coronavirus disease 2019 by continents and national income: a meta-analysis. J Med Virol. 2022; 94: 2402- 2413. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.27610
Watson A, Ganapati S, Grossman A, Trtanj J, Arbour N, Torres I, et al. Not what the doctor ordered: Prioritizing transdisciplinary science on climate, environment and health in the Latin American and Caribbean region. PLOS Climate, 2022; 1(4): e0000025. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000025
Torres I, Sippy R, Bardosh KL, Bhargava R, Lotto-Batista M, et al. Chronic kidney disease in Ecuador: An epidemiological and health system analysis of an emerging public health crisis. PLOS One, 2022; 17(3): e0265395. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265395
Cuéllar L, Torres I, Romero-Severson E, et al. Assessing the impact of human mobility to predict regional excess death in Ecuador. Scientific Reports, 370 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-03926-0
Cuéllar L, Torres I, Romero-Severson E, et al. Excess deaths reveal the true spatial, temporal and demographic impact of COVID-19 on mortality in Ecuador, International Journal of Epidemiology, 2021; dyab163, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyab163
Wenham C, Kavanagh M, Torres I, Yamey G. Preparing for the next pandemic. BMJ 2021;373:n1295. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1295
Torres I, Thapa B, Robbins G. et al. Data Sources for Understanding the Social Determinants of Health: Examples from Two Middle-Income Countries: the 3-D Commission. J Urban Health 98, 31–40 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-021-00558-7
Thapa B, Torres I, Koya S.F. et al. Use of Data to Understand the Social Determinants of Depression in Two Middle‐Income Countries: the 3‐D Commission. J Urban Health 98, 41–50 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-021-00559-6
Cuéllar L, Torres I, Romero-Severson E, et al. Excess deaths reveal unequal impact of COVID-19 in Ecuador. BMJ Global Health 2021;6:e006446. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006446
Romero-Alvarez D, López-Cevallos DF, Torres I. Uninformative and unuseful: why it is necessary to actively challenge COVID-19 antibody testing postvaccination. Public Health. 2021;199:32-33. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2021.08.012
Ortiz-Prado E, Fernandez-Naranjo R, Torres-Berru Y, Lowe R, Torres I. Exceptional Prices of Medical and Other Supplies during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ecuador. 2021. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, tpmd210221. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.21-0221
Torres I, Lopez-Cevallos D, Artaza O, Profeta B, Kang J, Machado CV. Vaccine scarcity in LMICs is a failure of global solidarity and multilateral instruments. 2021. Lancet, 397:1804. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00893-X
Torres, I., Sippy, R., Sacoto, F. Assessing critical gaps in COVID-19 testing capacity: the case of delayed results in Ecuador. 2021. BMC Public Health 21, 637. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10715-x
Torres I, López-Cevallos DF. In the name of COVID-19: legitimizing the exclusion of community participation in Ecuador’s health policy: Special call: Health Promotion Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic. 2021. Health Promotion International; daaa139. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daaa139
Torres I, Artaza O, Profeta B, Alonso C, Kang J. Realigning global health governance: WHO at a crossroads. 2020. International Journal for Equity in Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01297-y
Torres I, Artaza O, Profeta B, Alonso C, Kang J. COVID-19 vaccination: returning to WHO’s Health For All. The Lancet Global Health. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30415-0
van Daalen KR, Bajnoczki C, Chowdhury M, Dada S, Khorsand P, Socha A, Lal A, Jung L, Alqodmani L, Torres I, Ouedraogo S, Mahmud AJ, Dhatt R, Phelan, Rajan D. (2020). Symptoms of a broken system: the gender gaps in COVID-19 decision-making [BMJ Global Health;5:e003549. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003549
Sacoto F, Torres I, López-Cevallos DF. Sostenibilidad en la prevención de enfermedades crónicas: programa Salud Al Paso en Ecuador [Sustainability in chronic disease prevention: lessons from the Salud al Paso program in Ecuador]. Pan Am. J. Public Health. 2020;44:e113. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2020.113
Sippy R, Lotto M, Bideaux A, Torres I, Narsipur S, Bhargava R, Stewart-Ibarra A. A national analysis of risk for potential chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology in Ecuador. 2020. Práctica Familiar Rural 5(2). https://doi.org/10.23936/pfr.v5i2.161
Torres I, López-Cevallos DF, Sacoto F. Incentivized public service response to COVID-19 in rural and marginalized urban communities. 2020. American Journal of Public Health. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305800
Torres I, López-Cevallos DF, Sacoto F. Elites can take care of themselves — Comment on COVID-19: the rude awakening for the political elite in low-income and middle-income countries. BMJ Global Health 2020;5:e003063. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003063
Torres I, Sacoto F. Localising an asset-based COVID-19 response in Ecuador. Lancet. 2020;395(10233):1339. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30851-5
Torres I, López-Cevallos DF. Institutional Challenges to Achieving Health Equity in Ecuador. The Lancet Global Health, 2018;6(8): e832-e833. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30245-6
Torres I, López-Cevallos DF. ¿Reforma de salud en Ecuador como modelo de éxito? Crítica al número especial de la Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 2017. 41:e148. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2017.148
Torres I. Policy windows for school-based health education about nutrition in Ecuador. Health Promotion International, 2017. 32(2), 331-339. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daw037
Torres I, Simovska V. Community participation in rural Ecuador’s school feeding programme: A health promoting school perspective. Health Education, 2017; 117(2), 176-192. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-02-2016-0009
Torres I, Benn J. The rural school meal as a site for learning about food. Appetite. 2017;117, 29-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.05.055
Torres I. “Teachers’ use of dietary recalls for exploratory dialogue in the classroom”. Health Education Journal. 2017;76(7): 869-879. https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896917718876