UVA was set up in the 13th century, and the
Faculty of Medicine is one of the oldest. They have
23 types of degrees, around 35000 students and 79 Departments. The Faculty of Medicine has several
Departments (like elsewhere) and two University Hospitals in Valladolid (each one has over 800
beds), as well as several outpatient clinics (primary care facilities). This University as well as
Hospital-Primary care facilities is public. There also exits agreement between several private
services and our university. These resources are of relevance when considering the feasibility of
developing the proposed research activities. Since the early 80's our Faculty and particularly, the
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, was involved in road safety and Traffic Medicine, in
co-operation with the National Traffic Agency (Dirección Generalde Tráfico). At present, our
Faculty is one of the most active in this field, mainly in applied-research and in the development
of road-safety policies. Initially our activity focused on psychoactive medication, but
progressively it extended to Traffic Medicine in general. We are now finishing a project about
screening for alcohol-related problems (abuse and dependence) in 8000 drivers. We have paid special
attention to training. For example, in the next few months a national-wide courses on 'prevention
and assistance in road accidents' for 5000 general practitioners will be implemented.
Dr F. Javier Alvarez, has a PhD in medicine, and is a Professor in the Department of
Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Faculty of Medicine. His main fields of work are psychoactive
substances and neurological-psychiatric disorders. He has been acting as a consultant at the
Ministry of Health (healthy lifestyles, accidents and national health survey) and at the Home
Office (National Traffic Agency and National Plan on Drugs). He takes part in the working party on
alcohol, drugs and Medicines and driving, under the DG7 High level Group on traffic safety and is a
member of the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety (ICADTS).
Dr
M. Carmen del Rio, has a PhD in medicine, and is an associate researcher in the Department of
Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Faculty of Medicine. Her main fields of work are psychoactive
substances and neurological-psychiatric disorders.
