Speakers

Course Director. Full Professor, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile. 

Research Areas: Molecular and Cell Biology; Host-pathogen interaction; congenital transmission of Chagas disease.

Full Professor, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile. 

Research Areas: He has been investigating new strategies for the treatment of chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy, in which the action of inflammation-resolving lipids is modulated pharmacologically. This work aims to identify these lipids as biomarkers for the treatment and prognosis of chronic chagasic infection by developing rapid screening tests. In this way, identifying serum levels of resolving lipids triggered by aspirin and modulated by drugs such as statins could predict the success of antichagasic therapy and the likelihood of progression to chronic irreversible conditions.

Assistant Professor, Departamento de Medicina, Hospital Clínico Universidad de Chile 

Postdoctoral Fellow, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile. Research Areas: Medicinal chemistry, search and design of compounds with biological activity. Carbohydrate chemistry, purification of polysaccharides, modification and structural elucidation; use for enhancing the bioavailability of bioactive compounds.

Associate Professor, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República.

Researcher at the Pasteur Institute of Montevideo, Uruguay

Research Areas: Cellular and molecular biology of host-parasite interaction

Lead Researcher, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay. Facultad de Medicina, Univesidad De la República, Montevideo

 Research Areas: Molecular Biology, Trypanosomatid genomics, bioinformatics.

Lead Researcher, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr Héctor Torres”, Argentina. 

Research Areas: Trypanosomatid genomics, molecular biology, congenital transmission of T. Cruzi.

Within the framework of public-private consortia with industry, the research group led by Dr. Alejandro Schijman has been developing and validating prototypes of molecular diagnostic kits. These kits are based on Real-Time duplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) and Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) for point-of-care detection of Trypanosoma cruzi infection. The final versions of the PCR kit have been approved by Argentina's national regulatory agency, ANMAT. PCR testing has also been integrated into the national guidelines by the Ministry of Health for the diagnosis of congenital Chagas disease and is currently being used in clinical trials to evaluate new drugs developed by the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, the research team is utilizing CRISPR-Cas9 technology to create T. cruzi genetic variants with mutations in drug resistance genes. 

Independent Researcher and Group leader, Argentinian Research Council (CONICET). Institute of Genetic Engineering and Molecular Biology (INGEBI)

 Research Areas: immune response against trypanosomatids.

Researcher, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brasil. 

Research Areas: Cell cycle and DNA repair in trypanosomatids, DNA replication

Assistant Professor, Universidad del Azuay, Ecuador. 

Research Areas: Medical chemistry,oxidative stress, 3D models

In recent years, he has been studying the development of new synthetic and natural compounds with bioactive properties, primarily targeting Trypanosoma cruzi. Additionally, he has evaluated several mechanisms of action, such as the generation of oxidative stress, changes in the parasite's membrane potential, and enzymatic inhibition, including cruzipain, TcGAPDH, and trypanothione reductase. Furthermore, he has utilized 3D infection models, primarily placental and cardiac spheroids, to simulate a biological system that more closely resembles an in vivo model.

Associate Reasercher, Institut Pasteur, Montevideo. Assistant Professor, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Uruguay. 

Research Areas: Bioinformatics, genomic.