WADA Executive Committee approves Panama Laboratory to conduct blood analyses in support of the Athlete Biological Passport

We were happy and proud to celebrate with the member of our lab, Lina Solis, that the laboratories headed by her, “Genetix”, obtained a very stringent certification at world level to conduct anti-doping analyses for the newly established “Athlete Biological Passport”. This passport is secured once not only doping substances are not found in an athlete body but also none of the metabolites that are induced typically by the action of doping agents. Only two other labs around the globe have obtained this approval. This certification testifies to the quality of researchers that are part of our team. Read the story here: WADA Executive Committee approves Panama Laboratory to conduct blood analyses in support of the Athlete Biological Passport | World Anti Doping Agency (wada-ama8.org)

The team has received many students from different universities and has also mentored youngsters in scientific research.

2022 has been a very active year. Our team has received high school students, JULIA Program, Networking Program, Florida State University, Universidad Latina de Panamá, Catholic University USMA from Chitré, are some of the students that received classes and training.

SENACYT program called JULIA which aimed to link young students with great scientists and learn about their different projects, in which she was mentored by Dr. Carmenza Spadafora.



Betzaida Domínguez with her JULIA mentor Carmenza Spadafora .
Ana Patricia Valencia with her JULIA mentor Dr. Lorena Coronado
From left to right: Claudia Villalobos, Dr. Carmenza Spadafora, Betzaida Domínguez, Dr. Lorena Coronado, Ana Valencia
Students from Florida State University’s biology course, guided by Professor Mirella Martínez, receive basic training in molecular biology from Jafeth Carrasco. This as part of the agreement signed between FSU and INDICASAT.
Dr Carmenza Spadafora with Dr. Maytee Zambrano at the first Encounter of SENACYT Program NETWORKING R+D for University of Panama Students and local researchers.
Students from Catholic University USMA from Chitré received training in cellular and molecular biology techniques by Jafeth Carrasco
Florida State University students.

The team has established a new project with the European Union

The team has established a new project with the European Union Commission under a Marie Curie-Slodowska Action of HorizonEurope to study Volatile Organic Compounds given off by Extracellular Vesicles from diseases like Malaria infection. It will examine the possibilities of using them for diagnostic purposes utilizing different techniques of detections, to include Electronic Noses. This is a project that involves partners from UPPSALA UNIVERSITET (UU) in Sweden, MONASH UNIVERSITY in Malasya, SC MGM STAR CONSTRUCT SRL (MGM) in Romania, the Malaria Team at INDICASAT AIP in Panama, UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK (UNIMAS) in Malasya, INSTITUTUL DE CHIMIE MACROMOLECULARA PETRU PONI (ICMPP) inRomania, UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA TOR VERGATA (UNITOV) in Italy, and the EESTI MAAULIKOOL (EMU) in Estonia which coordinates the program.

INDICASAT AIP Malaria Team: innovation to cure the disease

From left to right: Lorena Pineda, Carmenza Spadafora, Patrick Padmore, Lorena Coronado, Evelin Alaín.

There are ideas that can change the world and people´s histories, but it all needs believing in them.

When the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched phase I of the Exploration projects, Dr. Carmenza Spadafora received a call that would chart new paths in research based on novel proposals.

The year was 2008. Dr. José A. Stoute, her mentor and with whom she worked at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research at Silver Spring and the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, calls her and asks her to think about a common idea regarding this call.

Dr. Spadafora, during her postdoc, had used a technique that employs the paramagnetism of malaria parasites to collect them using a magnet…

Full Article: https://lawebdelasalud.com/malaria-team-del-indicasat-aip-innovacion-para-curar-la-enfermedad/

Jafeth Carrasco, new Bachellor of Science!

We are pleased to share the successful Bachelor of Science thesis defense of our dear colleague Jafeth Carrasco, entitled “Construction of a Bacterial Biosensor for the Detection of Cyanide Based on the Expression of the Fluorescent Protein E2-Crimson”. Jafeth financed his project with a grant for New Researchers from the National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation (SENACYT).

In the picture: Natasha Gómez, B.Sc, original initiator of the project; thesis mentors and directors Carmenza Spadafora, PhD.; Dalila Montañez, PhD.; Jordi Querol, PhD; Ariel Magallón, PhD. In the middle, Jafeth Carrasco, new Bachellor of Science!