The National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA) is a central department of the Portuguese Ministry of Health, with scientific, technical, administrative and financial autonomy, depending directly from the Minister of Health.
Founded in 1899 by the physician and humanist Ricardo Jorge (Porto, 1858 – Lisbon, 1939), as the main laboratory of the Portuguese health system, INSA is a State Laboratory, incorporating the functions of national observatory and national reference laboratory in the Portuguese health sector.
INSA has operative units in its main office in Lisbon, in two centres in Porto (Centre of Public Health Dr. Gonçalves Ferreira and Centre of Medical Genetics Dr. Jacinto Magalhães) and in Águas-de-Moura (Centre of Study and Vectors and Infectious Diseases Dr. Francisco Cambournac).
Presently, INSA is organized in six departments:
- Food and Nutrition Department;
- Infectious Diseases Department;
- Epidemiology Department;
- Genetics Department;
- Health Promotion and Chronic Diseases Department;
- Environmental Health Department.
All operative units composing the departments develop multidisciplinary programmes in problem-areas of Public Health, namely performing R&D, health monitoring, training, laboratory external quality assessment and general health services.
Led by a Board of Direction, composed by a president (José Pereira Miguel) and two other members, INSA’s human resources sum over 600 people, more than half of them with a higher education degree, including 60 with a PhD or equivalent.