Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud (IICS), directed by Professor Graciela Velázquez, has been in continuous operation for the last 29 years. As an autonomous specialized academic unit, it is overseen by the National University of Asunción's Dirección General de Investigación Científica.
The primary mission of IICS is to generate, conduct and promote scientific research in the health sciences by contributing knowledge and offering solutions to address the country’s health problems. Human resources and the development of other specialized services are also directed at improving the health of the community.
The Institute employs 169 staff working in the prevention and control of diseases, 93 of whom are specialized professionals in three fields:
- Research
- Services (providing different types of specialized laboratory diagnoses for low-income patients)
- Academia
Fully-equipped laboratories specialize in clinical analysis, microbiology, parasitology, genetics, molecular biology, pathology, virology and immunology. The laboratories are organized into ten separate departments. Kits for in vitro detection are also produced here.
In 2007, the Institute launched its Master’s course in Biomedical Sciences, the first of its kind to be developed in Paraguay in the fields of bacteriology, parasitology and immunology. This program was established to make up for a lack of this specialization in Paraguay and to provide students with an opportunity to study in their own country, rather than having to permanently emigrate abroad. The new 5,700 square-meter IICS building is under construction on the university’s campus.
Molecular Biology and Genetics Department
The Molecular Biology Laboratory joined the GABRIEL network in January 2011, and it is one of the nine sites included in the Multicenter Pneumonia Surveillance Study. Professor Graciela Russomando is the Head of the Department.
The Laboratory was created in 1990 thanks to the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Since its creation, this department has stimulated the intellectual growth and the innovative conceptualization of young scientists in basic and applied sciences. In addition, many undergraduate students have been attracted to scientific research by advanced technologies. In 1992, initial studies on the molecular biology of parasites were carried out on Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania, which led to the direct detection of parasites in blood samples, megacolon paraffin-embedded samples and triatomine feces.
In 1998, research in molecular virology began (on hantavirus, syncytial respiratory virus, adenovirus, rotavirus and dengue virus) with studies conducted in virus detection, molecular characterization and viral isolation by cell culture. Subsequently, other areas were added: i) studies on Mycobacterium tuberculosis that include diagnosis, molecular epidemiology, resistance and identification of atypical mycobacteria, and ii) bioinformatics applied to the studies of nucleic acid and protein sequence analysis of infectious agents, with an emphasis on rotavirus.
In 2007, the characterization of antibiotic resistance mechanisms began. One of the department’s main goals is to strengthen local research capacities and to support the introduction, by public health services, of new diagnostic techniques (PCR and its variations, hybridization with non-radioactive probes, RFLP, SSCP, recombinant protein production, etc.). This support, granted to the public health program with its advanced technologies, set the stage for the University to demonstrate its commitment to solving the country’s health problems with: i) early diagnosis of congenital Chagas disease in rural endemic areas with the introduction of the ELISA-SAPA (SAPA recombinant antigen) and PCR for follow-up treatment, and ii) health surveillance program carried out with the identification of the dengue virus by multiplex-PCR in the outbreaks spanning from 2000 to 2003, followed by the transfer of the technique to the Ministry of Health, and, subsequently, by the genotyping characterization of circulating rotavirus, introduced in 1998, and the identification of Leishmania species in biopsy samples obtained from infected patients. This has contributed to the diagnosis and the prognosis of the disease since 2002.
The Molecular Biology Laboratory is divided into 5 main areas and studies the identification/diagnosis of infectious diseases, as well as characterization/genotyping and molecular epidemiology/epidemiological surveillance.
- Chagas Disease Area/Molecular Biology of Trypanosoma cruzi:A. Zunilda Sanchez, Analytical Chemistry; Graciela Meza (technical assistant)
- Leishmaniasis Area/Molecular diagnosis and epidemiology of leishmaniasis: Eva Nara, Veterinary Medicine, Ph. D/Director of this section; Dr. Lilian Chena, Biochemistry
- Tuberculosis Area: Laura Franco, Biochemistry; Dr. Chyntia Díaz, Biochemistry
- Molecular Virology Area/Bioinformatics: Lic Magaly Martínez, Biology/Director of this section; Emilio Espínola, Biology, M.Sc.
- Molecular Bacteriology/Molecular characterization of antibiotic resistance mechanisms: Rosa Guillen, Biochemistry, Ph. D/Director of this section.