This program aims at training researchers and specialists focused on the resolution of health problems.
Institutions that are members of the MERCOSUR’s Structural Convergence Fund (FOCEM) Project presented the first regional doctorate in Health Sciences of Latin America. The inaugural cohort of students will start their classes in May 2019 and, for four years, will work in the institutes and laboratories of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay that are part of the project.
“There is a pressing demand forprofessionals focused on solving important issues for the region, such as infectious diseases, pathologies of the nervous system, or metabolic disorders such as diabetes. One of the strongest points of this doctorate is that it takes into account the particular characteristics of people living in Latin America”, explains Eduardo Arzt, director of the Biomedicine Research Institute of Buenos Aires (IBioBA, CONICET – Instituto Partner de la Max Planck Society).
In addition to the IBioBA, the following institutions are members of the FOCEM Project: the Institut Pasteur of Montevideo, Uruguay; the Central Public Health Laboratory of the Ministry of Health (LCSP) of Paraguay; the Centro para el Desarrollo de Investigación Científica [Center for the Development of Scientific Research (CEDIC)] of Paraguay; and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) of Brazil.
The title will be issued by Fiocruz, one of the most important research centers in the region, and during the program students will conduct their practices and experiments in the institutes that are part of the FOCEM Project, which already have laboratories and established research groups.
The areas of interest are focused on solving problems relevant to the region and are: Cellular and Molecular Biology, Computational Biology and Systems, Biosciences and Biotechnology, Tropical Medicine and Clinical Research in Infectious Diseases.
“An initiative of this magnitude not only allows us to generate research and collaboration networks between institutes, but also to offer regional solutions to local problems,” explains Wilson Savino, Coordinator of Regional and National Integration Strategies of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. And he adds: “Latin America is unique in many aspects, and it is essential to know and take into account its local characteristics if we want to help improve the quality of life of the population”.
You can find this story published in the website of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) (in Spanish)