THIS SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL ‘SAúDE EM DEBATE’, dedicated to the theme ‘Interdisciplinarity in public health’, reflects and explores theoretical and methodological aspects, training and research on the theme in the field of public health. The particularity of the publication lies in the dissemination of work developed in the professor-student relationship, the axis of teaching and research in postgraduate programs in the field of collective health, and of interdisciplinarity in health itself, which brings together different knowledges, practices, and training. This publication was supported by the Public Health Program of the Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health (ENSP) of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ).

The health-disease-care processes pose challenges to scientific knowledge and to health practices, showing that those themes and objects require complex approaches in their theoretical postulates, conceptual schemes, methods, and practices. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified existing inequalities and had a marked impact on vulnerable social groups and in countries with less provision of social protection. So, at this moment, in view of a perspective that is committed to social transformation and equity, an interdisciplinary dialogue is urgent, in which we can face theoretical and conceptual challenges, and debate our methods, beyond a perspective that conceives them as mere tools, valuing the political nature of methodological choices and making us feel responsible for our interference in the world^{11 Siqueira IR, Magalhães B, Caldas M, et al., organizadores. Metodologia e relações internacionais: debates contemporâneos. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. PUC-Rio; 2019. (v. 2).}.

This issue of the journal opens with the article by Nísia Trindade, debated by Gulnar Azevedo e Silva and Aurea Ianni, about the challenges in the path of interdisciplinarity and the way in which they have been developing in the field of public health. The text highlights that the COVID-19 pandemic brings a new order of issues, in which it is necessary to rethink the divisions between the natural world and society and the environmental challenges, as well as the current configuration of the field of information and communication.

The publication features original and review articles, as well as experience reports. Some texts present practical experiences of research, teaching, extension, management, and health care, and others produce and deepen discussions on interdisciplinarity in terms of its episteme and guiding theories. A dialogue is also presented with new themes, concepts, and categories, which are essential in the field of collective health, such as gender, raciality, decoloniality, among others.

We hope that this publication contributes to transforming reflections on collective health knowledge, teaching practices, and health care.

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