Research at the Casa de Oswaldo Cruz focuses on the history of the sciences and health. Casa scholars have investigated multiple topics related to the institutionalization of the sciences and health in Brazil and have explored the practices, knowledge production, and public policies that have shaped these fields from the colonial period through today. The vast scholarship produced as a result of this process has made the Casa a model in Brazil and earned it international renown.
Exchanges with other research groups in Brazil and abroad have expanded in recent years through events, publications, and research partnerships, especially with researchers from Latin America, Europe, and North America.
A number of Casa researchers serve on the editorial boards of Brazilian and foreign science journals, while others are science editors or serve on editorial boards at publishing houses. These researchers have played an active, ongoing role in the leading scientific associations in the field, including the National History Association (ANPUH), the Brazilian History of Science Society (SBHC), and the National Association for Graduate Studies and Research in the Social Sciences (ANPOCS).
From its earliest days, the historical research conducted at the Casa has been committed to preserving the memory of Brazilian science and health and has contributed to the acquisition, production, and organization of records collections concerning the histories of Brazil’s leading institutions and figures in the field. Casa researchers also train and educate students and interns.
This research also reflects a social commitment to conjoining the production of knowledge about the past with a discussion of the issues and challenges occupying the contemporary agenda on science and public health. This commitment is reinforced through researcher engagement in the public communication of science and through the teaching activities that are part of the Casa’s graduate and extension programs.
RESEARCH GROUPS CERTIFIED BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT (CNPq)
Water, Health and Environment in Brazil's great acceleration
Slavery, race, and health
History of medicine and health: institutional spaces and actors
History of health care
History and health policies
The physical, the mental, and the moral in the history of medical and psychological knowledge
