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Cali, Colombia

Site Institution: Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Medicas (CIDEIM)
U.S. Institution: Yale University
Research Focus: Vector-Borne And Emerging Infections (Leishmaniasis Malaria, Dengue), Mdr/Xdr Tb, Congenital And Secondary Syphilis, Hospital Associated Infections And Drug Resistance

Site Description:
Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM) is a Colombian public-private non-profit organization dedicated to conducting biomedical research in infectious diseases. Research at CIDEIM includes multidisciplinary investigations of leishmaniasis; emerging infectious diseases, such as syphilis, dengue, and other arbovirus diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti; drug-resistant malaria; MDR and XDR tuberculosis; and ecology and control of vectors for leishmaniasis, malaria, and dengue.

CIDEIM’s headquarters are in Cali, Colombia. In addition, a clinical research facility in Tumaco on the Pacific Coast. Training and research activities may be conducted in collaboration with partner institutions in Cali, including Universidad Icesi, Universidad del Valle, Hospital Universitario del Valle, and Fundación Valle del Lili.

CIDEIM investigators and faculty of the Yale School of Public Health have jointly conducted NIH-supported research and training since 2003. The longstanding CIDEIM/Yale collaboration includes a Fogarty Global Infectious Disease Training Program (Project No. 5D43TW006589), now in its fourth 5-year cycle. CIDEIM has hosted numerous students, trainees, and visiting scholars with support from a variety of sources, including the Yale Downs Fellowship, Fulbright, and Howard Hughes.

Other features of this site include:
  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology research laboratory to conduct proteomic and functional genomics research.
  • Immunology and Cell Biology research laboratory has infrastructure to evaluate the immune response at the local, systemic and cellular level using technologies such as cytometric analysis of phenotypic and functional markers and leukocyte products and mediators, real time PCR of gene products and transcription factors, and ex vivo analysis of cells of the inflammatory and immune response.
  • Microbiology and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratories have two biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) work areas. One BSL-2 is used to type and phenotypically characterize clinically-relevant microbial pathogens (bacteria and parasites), using conventional culture methods and PCR-based techniques. The second BSL-2 lab is primarily dedicated to molecular diagnosis and is equipped with qPCR technology, a BSC class II biosafety hood, and a four-module GeneXpert platform. The Microbiology Laboratory also has a BSL-3 workspace. These biosecurity features allow the culture and manipulation of aerosol transmissible pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
  • Biostatistics and Epidemiology Research Unit collaborates with the other research units and investigators in the planning, execution, and analysis of research studies, with the overall aim of ensuring valid and insightful quantitative analytics.
  • Clinical and Community Research Unit coordinates all recruitment, enrollment, and clinical management of participants for studies involving human subjects. It provides patient care for leishmaniasis and syphilis in CIDEIM. Other diagnostic services are provided in the field sites in Tumaco on the Pacific Coast and the municipalities of Rovira in Tolima and Pueblo Rico in Risaralda in the Andean region of Colombia. Importantly, the Clinical Unit has the support of infectious disease specialists from the Fundación Valle del Lili, a high complexity level 4 hospital, and Research Associate investigators who include dermatologist (Dr. Adriana Cruz), and pediatric infectious disease specialist (Dr. Eduardo Lopez) who provide support for the clinical management of complicated or unusual cases.

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