Health Policy and Pharma Regulation in Latin America

María Alejandra Costa is a postdoctoral researcher at the São Paulo School of Business Administration (FGV/EAESP) in Brazil, funded by a scholarship from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). Her work focuses on key issues at the intersection of public policy, public health, and political economy, with a specific emphasis on pharmaceutical regulation in Latin America, particularly in Argentina.

In her research, María Alejandra explores how state capacity and institutional frameworks influence the integration of diverse sources of information into regulatory decision-making processes. Her work is particularly relevant in the context of health emergencies, where she examines how governments adapt their regulatory practices during crises and how these adaptations shape policy responses.

María Alejandra holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Université de Montréal, Canada, and completed a visiting research fellowship at the Centre d’Études Européennes (CEE) at Sciences Po, Paris. She has a Master’s in Political Science from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and a Bachelor's degree in Social Communication from the Universidad de Buenos Aires. Additionally, she has participated in numerous international conferences, including the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), the Congress on Public Policy Research (COPPR), and the International Public Policy Association (IPPA), where she has presented her work on public policy and policymaking.

She has a strong background in both quantitative and mixed methods, which enables her to effectively analyze complex data and draw insights from various disciplines. She is fluent in multiple languages, including Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese, allowing her to engage with a wide range of academic and policy communities. Her research significantly contributes to understanding pharmaceutical regulation in Latin America and its implications for global health governance.