About Us
The University Chair in Health and Pain is an initiative resulting from the agreement between the University of Malaga and the Unicaja Foundation to promote teaching, research and, above all, the transfer of knowledge on health and pain to the city and province of Malaga.
The main focus of this Chair is on citizens who either live with chronic pain and want to learn how to better manage it, or citizens who want to develop and learn more about healthy behaviors. In addition to citizens, health agents of different kinds, such as family members, educators and managers participate directly in different projects.
Finally, our projects bring together professionals from different fields of knowledge such as Physiotherapy, Medicine, other specialties of Health Sciences, Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology or different Engineering and Computer Sciences.
Alejandro Luque Suárez
Chair Director
Alejandro Luque Suárez is Professor of Physiotherapy at the University of Malaga and Director of the Chair of Health and Pain. With more than 30 years of clinical experience, he has devoted much of his professional work to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching (more than 50 trainings given), national and international presentations at specialized congresses, as well as research in chronic pain, where with more than 70 publications in high impact journals, he is one of the 10 most prominent researchers worldwide (PubMed-Medscape Index) between 2014-2024. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Pain. His current interest lies in continuing to investigate in a global way (bio-psycho-social-contextual) how people feel, manage and behave in relation to their pain. In addition, he has great interest in transferring all the current knowledge to citizens, patients, health professionals and health managers and politicians through conferences and professional consultancies.
Ignacio Maldonado Cobalea
Graduated in physiotherapy from the University of Malaga in 2019. Official Master in Manual Physiotherapy of the Locomotor System by the University of Alcalá in 2022. Currently, he combines his career as a clinical physiotherapist with research in pain education as a member of the PhD program of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Malaga. In addition, he is a member of the Chair of Health and Pain since 2023, performing social and educational work in chronic pain management for the citizens of Malaga. He also has experience in professional sports physiotherapy as a physiotherapist of O Parrulo Ferrol FS between the seasons 21-22/22/22-23 in his career in the 1st and 2nd Division of the National Football League.
Javier Matías Soto
Javier Matías Soto is a physiotherapist, PhD student in health sciences at the University of Malaga and research assistant at Loyola University of Andalusia. He has 9 years of clinical experience. She has research experience in evidence synthesis and qualitative research, mainly in the field of chronic musculoskeletal pain. In addition, she has a great interest in projects of knowledge transfer to the general population, clinical and research staff, and managers in the field of health.
Adriane Aguayo
Adriane Aguayo is a Predoctoral Researcher in Health Sciences at the University of Malaga. With more than eight years of clinical experience as a physiotherapist, she has combined her interest in chronic pain management with research and education. Throughout her career she has taught in master's degree programs, has been a speaker at national and international conferences, and has published studies in high impact journals. Her research focuses on health literacy and pain management, with a focus on patient participation. Currently, she is part of projects that seek to improve the quality of pain information in digital environments and develop educational tools to facilitate pain self-management. In addition to her research work, Adriane is committed to scientific dissemination, collaborating with institutions to bring knowledge closer to citizens, health professionals and health policy makers.
Adriane Aguayo
Adriane Aguayo is a Predoctoral Researcher in Health Sciences at the University of Malaga. With more than eight years of clinical experience as a physiotherapist, she has combined her interest in chronic pain management with research and education. Throughout her career she has taught in master's degree programs, has been a speaker at national and international conferences, and has published studies in high impact journals. Her research focuses on health literacy and pain management, with a focus on patient participation. Currently, she is part of projects that seek to improve the quality of pain information in digital environments and develop educational tools to facilitate pain self-management. In addition to her research work, Adriane is committed to scientific dissemination, collaborating with institutions to bring knowledge closer to citizens, health professionals and health policy makers.
Lirio Dueñas
Doctor in Physiotherapy and professor at the Universitat de València since 2003, she has more than 20 years of teaching and clinical experience, highlighting her leadership in the subject of Physiotherapy in Primary and Community Care. With more than 40 scientific publications and 20 research projects, his work focuses on chronic pain, osteoarthritis and health literacy. Spanish representative in the Health Literacy Working Group of the EFIC, she collaborates in the "Plain Talking" campaign to improve communication about pain between professionals and patients. She is currently leading the EmpowerHEr project, funded by the European Union, to empower women breast cancer survivors through exercise and social support. Her involvement in Service-Learning projects strengthens the practical training in Primary Care of physiotherapy students. She has received several awards, including recognition from the Valencia City Council for the WISE project, aimed at promoting adolescent female sports participation. Its focus is on connecting research with clinical practice, improving health education and facilitating access to clear and understandable information for patients and professionals.
Mario Bárbara del Moral
Mario Bárbara del Moral has more than 25 years of experience in the field of sports physiotherapy in high performance (Unicaja Basketball) Master in International Health, has directed his training in recent years towards the biopsychosocial vision for the approach of pain in elite sport. From 2023 he will join the Chair of Health and Pain, where he will be part of the commission of Pain and Sport. Currently, he combines his professional work with research in the field of pain in high performance sport, as a member of the doctoral program of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Malaga.
Marcelino Torrontegui
Marcelino Torrontegui Duarte is a Graduate in Physiotherapy, Graduate in Podiatry, Doctor in Health Sciences. Professor of Podiatry at the University of Malaga. He is a member of the Medical Commission of the Spanish Olympic Committee, attending 8 Olympic Games (Atlanta 1996 to Paris 2024). He collaborates with the Spanish Football Federation, the Spanish Cycling Federation and the MOVISTAR Cycling Team. He has been Physiotherapist of the Malaga Football Club for 21 years. He has a great interest in connecting the latest advances in the field of pain with high performance sport.
Lirio Dueñas
Doctor in Physiotherapy and professor at the Universitat de València since 2003, she has more than 20 years of teaching and clinical experience, highlighting her leadership in the subject of Physiotherapy in Primary and Community Care. With more than 40 scientific publications and 20 research projects, his work focuses on chronic pain, osteoarthritis and health literacy. Spanish representative in the Health Literacy Working Group of the EFIC, she collaborates in the "Plain Talking" campaign to improve communication about pain between professionals and patients. She is currently leading the EmpowerHEr project, funded by the European Union, to empower women breast cancer survivors through exercise and social support. Her involvement in Service-Learning projects strengthens the practical training in Primary Care of physiotherapy students. She has received several awards, including recognition from the Valencia City Council for the WISE project, aimed at promoting adolescent female sports participation. Its focus is on connecting research with clinical practice, improving health education and facilitating access to clear and understandable information for patients and professionals.
Pillars of the Chair
Teaching
Different professionals of the Chair carry out training courses for health professionals in different Spanish cities, as well as give lectures in national and international congresses, and teach contents in different university Degrees.
Transfer to the company
This project was born in 2023 and was created to close the gap between scientific knowledge and impact on clinical practice and citizens' knowledge, which today is around 15 years. Providing citizens and clinical professionals with tools that enable them to access, interpret and act correctly in the face of health and pain information is key. A population that is well informed about health is a population that is more likely to suffer fewer illnesses and, if it does suffer them, to manage them better.
In this sense, the Chair carries out initiatives such as: