Stella Hartinger is a Peruvian Epidemiologist and Environmental Health Specialist, interested in the linkages between the environment, the effects of climate change and human health. She holds the position of Associate Professor and Researcher at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Her leadership roles include heading the Unit for Development, Health, and Environment, co-directing the Center for Latin-American Research on Climate Change and Health (CLIMA), and directing The Lancet Countdown South American on Health and Climate Change.
Her expertise lies in managing randomized control trials (RCTs) in resource-limited settings to address environmental, social, and developmental health issues, such as air pollution, water quality, sanitation and hygiene, and early child development. By utilizing RCTs, she focuses on disease prevention, human health wellbeing, and fostering child development. She also specializes in designing and developing prospective, birth, and multigenerational cohorts. Her research experience spans over fifteen years and encompasses evaluating the etiology of non-communicable and infectious diseases, maternal and newborn health, and childhood diseases in high-altitude Andean populations. Thanks to her country's altitudinal diversity, she has studied populations living at different altitudes and environmental exposures, such as air and water pollution, and social determinants.
Throughout her professional career, she has carried out research by combining mixed-method approaches and large-series statistical data analysis. Furthermore, she has over seven years of experience as a lecturer and have spent eight years as an environmental consultant for environmental impact assessment studies.