Research in Epidemiology in Brazil: challenges, pathways, and commitments for the future.

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the challenges and perspectives of Brazilian Epidemiology based on the reflections presented in the Fifth Strategic Plan for the Development of Epidemiology in Brazil (2025-2029). The importance of a scientific agenda committed to quality, innovation, equity, and social transformation is highlighted. We also ponder that Epidemiology must reaffirm its identity as a critical, collaborative, and socially-referenced field. Brazilian Epidemiology must carry on its mission of contributing to the response to health crises, to the reduction of health inequities, and supporting the construction of a national project of sustainable development. Together with the analysis of the significant advances achieved throughout its history, the challenges of research in Epidemiology are debated, such as the chronic underfunding of research in the country, the regional and thematic inequalities in the distribution of resources, academic productivism, the need to bring science closer to the population, and to expand the theoretical and methodological density of studies. Simultaneously, we highlight that opportunities are emerging related to the expansion of open science, the democratization of access to data, and the expansion of the social relevance of research.