Elena Codina Sampera

Since I first started out as a pediatrician, I have been interested in pediatric nephrology, which I initially combined with my work as a primary health carer and, since 2016, I have worked full time at SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital. I completed my training on internships at La Paz University Hospital (Madrid), Hospital Clínic (Barcelona), where I mainly focused on the field of hemodialysis. I am the head of the Hemodialysis Unit, as well as the Cardiovascular Risk and Uro-Nephrological Malformations units at the Nephrology Department of SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital. I have published many papers on pediatric nephrology and I am the author of four chapters in books related to this speciality. I have made more than 50 presentations at national and international conferences. I am a tenured member of Asociación Española de Nefrología Pediátrica and of the European Society for Paediatric Nephrology.

As a result of the pressing need for an environmental focus on mother and child health, we set up the Maternal and Child Environmental Health Unit at SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital, which was finally officially launched in September 2023. I am the assistant coordinator of the working group on environmental health of Societat Catalana de Pediatria and the secretary of the Environmental Health Committee of Asociación Española de Pediatría. As a researcher, I am involved in a number of environmental health projects with different organisations and universities, amongst which, the Instituto de Salud Global (ISGlobal) in Barcelona.

Training

• Course for leaders in environmental health in Europe and Latin America, University of Murcia, 2022.
• Master’s Degree in Pediatric Nephrology, University of Barcelona, 2020.
• Training in pediatric dialysis and kidney transplants. La Paz University Hospital, Madrid 2017.
• Specialised training in pediatric nephrology and advanced pediatric nephrology. University of Oviedo,  2016–2017.
• Doctor specialised in pediatrics and specific areas. Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa, Barcelona, 2008–2012.
• Degree in Medicine, University of Barcelona, 2001–2007.

Research work

• Principal investigator at SJD Hospital on the AIRTOPIA project: Industrial research project for monitoring the quality of air indoors, funded by the Ministry of Industry. 2022.
• Safe and healthy school environments and the importance of active pupil mobility. Author of documents for Societat Catalana de Pediatria: “Let’s Pedal to School” (2022) and “Guidelines for Safe and Healthy School Environments” (2023).
• European Society for Paediatric Nephrology, working group for “CAKUT, UTI, Bladder Disorders". Since 2018.
• Contributor to numerous studies, trials and publications related to pediatric nephrology (2016 to present).

See more publications

Teaching

• Collaborating lecturer on the Degree in Medicine, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, since 2023.

See more links about Elena Codina

• Article: Societat Catalana de Pediatria presents guidelines for retrieving safe and healthy school environments.
• Video on YouTube: Dr Elena Codina - Health and the Environment Since before the Beginning.
• Video at 324.cat: Children should be able to come out of school and have a play area, far away from traffic.