Biography
Pedro Hallal is a Professor at the University of Illinois - Champaign/Urbana. Prof. Hallal served as the President of the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil from 2017 to 2020. His primary area of research is physical activity and public health. Prof. Hallal has published more than 500 scientific articles and his research has been funded by Brazilian and international agencies. According to Google Scholar, Prof. Hallal's work has been cited >74,000 times, and my h-index is 107. Prof. Hallal was the leader of the 2012 Lancet Physical Activity Series and steering committee member of the 2016 and 2021 series – work that informs the global health burden of physical inactivity. He is one of the founders and former president of the Brazilian Society of Physical Activity and Health. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. More recently, Prof. Hallal served as the Principal Investigator for the EPICOVID19 project, the largest epidemiological study on Covid-19 in Brazil.
Additional Campus Affiliations
Alvin M. and Ruth L. Sandall Professor, Health and Kinesiology
Professor, Health and Kinesiology
Director, MPH Program, Health and Kinesiology
Recent Publications
Bazan, C. N., Hallal, P. C., Hoopsick, R. A., Martenies, S., Schwingel, A., & Tassitano, R. M. (2026). Principles of Epidemiology: A Primer. (OPN Textbooks). Windsor & Downs Press. https://doi.org/10.21900/wd.32
Brito dos Santos, C. V., Coelho, L. E., Luz, P. M., Goedert, G. T., Csillag, D., Gennari, J., Leão, O. A. D. A., Blumenberg, C., Siqueira, F. V., De Assis, D. M., Da Silva, A. M. D. S., Do Carmo, G. M. I., Barros, F. C., Struchiner, C. J., Victora, C. G., & Hallal, P. C. (2026). History of self-reported COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the Brazilian population: a countrywide survey. International Journal of Epidemiology, 55(Supplement_1), i1-i12. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyaf153
Cerqueira-Silva, T., Argolo, F., Gonçalves da Costa, G., Barbara, F. N., Hallal, P., & Gualano, B. (2026). Uncovering the biases: why the claimed mask–excess mortality link fails to hold. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 55, Article 101360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2025.101360
Coelho, L. E., Goedert, G. T., Genari, J., Luz, P. M., Carvalho, L. M., Santos, C. V. B. D., Csillag, D., Konečný, T., Campos Pellanda, L., Struchiner, C. J., Freitas da Silveira, M., & Hallal, P. C. (2026). COVID-19 vaccine trust and uptake: the role of media, interpersonal and institutional trust in a large population-based survey. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 53, Article 101324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2025.101324
Felix, D. M., Mohandas, V. J., de Andrade Leão, O. A., Siqueira, F. V., & Hallal, P. C. (2026). Physical activity and post-COVID symptoms: Findings from the EPICOVID 2.0 survey in Brazil. Preventive Medicine, 203, Article 108471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2025.108471