This programme aims to expand our current scientific understanding of the most relevant diseases affecting humans, and their host-vector interactions, in order to support evidence-based policy-making for disease control and eventual elimination.
We focus on malaria and neglected parasitic diseases such as Chagas, Dengue, soil transmitted helminths and leishmaniasis.
We apply methods which include immunology, basic cell and molecular biology, omics, epidemiology, intervention trials with drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tools, surveillance and implementation science.
This program has international leadership in:
- Basic science for a better understanding of the biology and host-pathogen interactions of these diseases.
- Development and evaluation of new tools /strategies for the treatment and control of these diseases.
- Surveillance and implementation science.
Capacity building is included at all levels.
Research Groups
- Chagas Disease and other Emergent and Re-Emergent Diseases (Julio Alonso Padilla, Quim Gascon)
- Global Health Economics (Elisa Sicuri)
- Malaria Epidemiology, Operational Research and Implementation Science (Caterina Guinovart)
- Malaria Epigenetics (Alfred Cortés)
- Malaria Immunology (Carlota Dobaño, Gemma Moncunill)
- Malaria Physiopathology and Genomics (Alfredo Mayor)
- Migrant Health (Ana Requena)
- Nanoparticles and Malaria (Xavier Fernández Busquets)
- Glycobiology and Malaria Parasite Biology (Luis Izquierdo)
- PvREX - Plasmodium vivax and Exosome (Hernando A. del Portillo, Carmen Fernández Becerra)
Strategic Alliances in Endemic Regions
Our Team
Leadership
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Hernando del Portillo Obando ICREA Research Professor and Head of the Malaria and Neglected Parasitic Diseases Programme -
Ana Requena Méndez Assistant Research Professor
Principal lnvestigators of the Programme
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Julio Alonso Padilla Assistant Research Professor, Director of the Chagas Initiative -
Alba Maria Antequera Associated Researcher
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Cristina Ballart Associated Researcher -
Azucena Bardají Associate Research Professor -
Bàrbara Baro Assistant Research Professor -
Quique Bassat Orellana Director General -
Daniel Camprubí Assistant Research Professor
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Alfred Cortés ICREA Research Professor -
Carlota Dobaño Research Professor -
Carmen Fernández Associate Research Professor -
Xavier Fernández Busquets Research Professor
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Montserrat Gállego Associated Researcher
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Quim Gascon Research Professor -
Caterina Guinovart Senior Advisor for Research and Implementation on malaria elimination -
Luis Izquierdo Lázaro Associate Research Professor -
Alfredo Mayor Research Professor -
Clara Menéndez Research Professor, Director of the Maternal, Child and Reproductive Health Initiative and Programme -
Gemma Moncunill Assistant Research Professor -
Jose Muñoz Associate Research Professor -
Krijn Paaijmans Associated Researcher
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Claudio Parolo Associated Researcher -
Regina Rabinovich Director of the Malaria Elimination Initiative -
Davide Rasella ICREA Research Professor and Head of the Health Impact Assessment and Evaluation Group -
Natalia Rodríguez-Valero Associated Researcher -
Elisa Sicuri Associate Research Professor -
Rosauro Varo Postdoctoral Medical Research Fellow
Highlighted Projects
MENA Migrant Health
Transforming data collection and surveillance to drive migrant health research, care and policy
Impacto de las coinfecciones en el balance de respuestas de anticuerpos y linfocitos T helper a antígenos diana de inmunidad natural y vacunal frente a patógenos humanos prominentes
Project Code: PI20/00866
Science4Pandemics
Citizens engagement digital platform for collective intelligence in pandemics
GenMoz
P. falciparum genomic intelligence in Mozambique
ASINTMAL
Unravelling Disease Tolerance and Host Resistance in Afebrile 'P. falciparum' Infections: a Prospective Study in Mozambican Adults
BOHEMIA
Broad One Health Endectocide-based Malaria Intervention in Africa
TESEO
New chemotherapy regimens and biomarkers for Chagas Disease
Euroleish.net
Control of Leishmaniasis. From bench to bedside and community
RTS,S Vaccine Immunology Study
Study of immune correlates of protection against malaria after vaccination with RTS,S/AS01E: a comprehensive immunological arm of a Phase III double-blind, randomized, controlled multi-center trial
MESA
Sharing knowledge and catalyzing research towards a malaria-free world
Other projects
GlycoTargets
New antimalarial therapies targeting the glycosylation pathways of ‘Plasmodium falciparum’
SMART
Identifying Severe Malaria with a new Aptamer-based Rapid diagnostic Test
EpiGen
Building Scalable Pathogen Genomic Epidemiology in Ethiopia
Subclinical Infections in Children and Long Term Health Effects
Infection acquisition in early life and health outcomes in childhood - MARATO TV3
HIDDENVIVAX
Novel organ-on-a-chip technology to study extracellular vesicles-mediated cryptic infections in Plasmodium vivax malaria
ADAM
Malaria mass and focal drug administration to advance malaria elimination in Mozambique: accelerating programmatic implementation and policy translation
NHEPACHA
New Tools for the Diagnosis and Evaluation of Chagas Disease
Confronting Anopheles stephensi, A Rapidly Emerging Threat
Anopheles stephensi: A malaria spreading mosquito species that thrives in urban spaces and is resistant to multiple insecticides. On...
Research, Malaria Elimination 18.08.2023
Conversations on Country Ownership in Malaria Research
With Kamija Phiri, Rebecca Pwalia and Yaw Bediako My good-humoured African colleague recently shared a thought-provoking observation, “We...
Malaria Elimination 27.06.2023
From Lab to Field: 12 Ways in which ISGlobal is Leading the Scientific Effort against Malaria
The Barcelona Institute for Global Health is a state-of-the-art research center that focuses on enhancing global health through scientific...
Research, Malaria Elimination 25.04.2023
Paraguay vs Chagas: A Diverse Team Is Born to Win a Centenary Match
Can you imagine a game that lasts more than a hundred years, in which the 400,000 square kilometres of Paraguay is one of the playing fields? A...
Research, Chagas 14.04.2023
The Bogotá Manifesto: Will You Join Us in the Fight to Eliminate Chagas Disease as a Public Health Problem?
The Bogotá Manifesto to eliminate Chagas disease brings together six commitments to end a global health problem that affects seven million people. ...
Research, Chagas 11.04.2023
From Knowledge to Action: Towards Enhanced Malaria Elimination Strategies
What to do when you know that an intervention is useful and valuable, but you are not sure what strategy to use so that it reaches everybody in...
Research, Malaria Elimination 11.05.2022
The Impact of Professional Internships on Chagas Disease Management
The training and exchange programme for health professionals from Paraguay, Spain and Bolivia—financed by the European programme...
Chagas 11.04.2022
Theseus in the Labyrinth and the Cure for Chagas Disease
In Greek mythology, Theseus was a hero who entered the Minotaur’s labyrinth using Ariadne’s thread as his guide. After freeing Crete...
Research, Chagas 21.03.2022
We Want to Tell Our Own Story
Barcelona CaixaResearch Living Lab organises the #VocesDelChagas campaign For the last fifteen years, people who left their country in...
17.03.2022
Chagas and a Better Country: Sharing Knowledge and Experience Across Borders to Support the Fight Against the Disease
[This text is written by Javier F. Sancho, coordinator of the Global Chagas Disease Coalition, with the collaboration of Karina Egüez,...
Research, Chagas 17.02.2022
Adelante 2: Cross-Border Exchange and Training Experience on Chagas Disease Now Underway
Marta Solís was concerned about something that she couldn’t find a clear answer about. She had been affected by Chagas disease. Oddly,...
Chagas 02.11.2021
RTS,S Malaria Vaccine: An Imperfect Vaccine that Will Save Thousands of Lives
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us all of the importance and impact of vaccines. In less than a year since the World Health Organization (WHO)...
Research, Translation and Impact, Malaria Elimination 07.10.2021
ISGlobal in Latin America: Building on Success Stories to Expand Global Health Agenda and Address Public Health Needs
[This post has been written by Carolina Batista, ISGlobal Latin America and the Caribbean Strategic Focal Point, and Leire Pajín,...
Translation and Impact 28.09.2021
Perception and Active Participation of Families Affected by Chagas Disease Determine Success of Health Care
“Only those who have Chagas perceive the reality of the disease. They are the ones who really understand it, know it and live with it,”...
Research, Chagas 27.08.2021
Manhiça: A Love Story
How could I have known, when I first visited the Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM) in Mozambique in the summer of 1998, that...
23.08.2021
The Complex Lives of Mosquitoes: The Key for Malaria Control
[This article has been written by Fredros Okumu, Director of Science at Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, mosquito biologist, public health...
Translation and Impact, Malaria Elimination 19.08.2021
Malaria in Times of COVID-19
[This text has been written by por Matiana González Silva and Regina Rabinovich, coordinator and director, respectively, of the Malaria...
Research, Malaria Elimination 22.04.2021
