Dedicated to fighting cancer and cardiovascular diseases, leading cause of death in Chile.
President Bachelet inaugurated advanced chronic disease center
– Agency is formed by 180 researchers from the universities of Chile and Catholic Chile.
Cancer and cardiovascular diseases, they are chronic diseases that, altogether, affecting 60% of the Chilean population, constituting also the two leading causes of death in the country. Before such a scenario, hundred and eighty scientists from the University of Chile (UCH) and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), they have formed the Center for advanced chronic diseases, ACCDiS , in order to investigate the origins of these pathologies, and design therapies and diagnostic tools to generate a positive impact on health.
This new centre of excellence, directed by Dres. Sergio Lavandero and Catterina Ferreccio, It will be officially inaugurated by the President of the Republic Michelle Bachelet, next Tuesday, April 28, 17 a.m.:30 hours, in Matucana 1OO. The ceremony will be chaired by the Presidents of both houses of study, Ennio Vivaldi (UCH) e Ignacio Sanchez (PUC), and it will feature a Masterful talk of the national prize of applied and Technological Sciences, Dr. Ricardo Uauy. This Conference is titled "how to live more and better": Challenges of our time".
Collaboration of universities
"Researchers from both universities work together will enable the delivery of information in first line on the chronic diseases in Chile and the Center will become an obligatory reference for national scholars as well as those responsible for public health. There is no doubt that ACCDiS will bring to the country. Above all, if we take into account that the Chilean population is threatened by an "epidemic" of chronic disease risk factors", says Ignacio Sánchez.
In both, Ennio Vivaldi, It points out that "chronic diseases are diseases that today constitute a limitation to the possibilities of quality of life of a significant percentage of the population, and many of them are avoidable or manageable. So the role that universities play as early dictators can be crucial. In addition, These diseases involve a deviation from the resources of the State to beat them which is very significant in the area of health. Why it is that I welcome the existence of this new Center for advanced chronic diseases, and in particular I am pleased that there is a collaborative work between these two universities of both flight, and I emphasize the very good work that they do in the medical and clinical area".
Exploring chronic diseases
"Chronic diseases that we are dealing with, they are the epidemic of the 21st century, affecting the quality of life not only of adults, but also of our child population. Faced with this alert, Centers of financing fund for research in priority Areas (FONDAP) the National Commission for scientific and technological research (CONICYT) supported the creation of ACCDiS, new centre of excellence that will generate the scientific basis for identifying elements common to these chronic diseases, and they allow to offer strategies for early detection, and intervention in early and advanced stages. However, This task requires a collective and multidisciplinary effort, exploring in depth what happens at the local level, in our Chilean reality", explains Dr. Sergio Lavandero.
For these purposes, and from a year ago, ACCDiS is carrying out a continuous work led by their principal investigators: own Dr. Sergio Lavandero, in cardiovascular area, and Dres. Catterina Ferreccio, Epidemiology and cancer; Pablo Castro, cardiovascular; Andrew Quest and Alejandro Corvalan, cancer, and Marcelo Kogan, nanomedicine. During this period, the centre has achieved 42 international publications, and the addition of 6 new young research associates, 18 postdoctoral students and 45 PhD students. Also, It has promoted the realization of alliances with foreign, the exchange of human capital, encouraging also the scientific dissemination not specialized community, with great focus on prevention.
Another great challenge launched by the Center is the project MAUCO, population-based study (Cohort) focused on the city of Molina, Maule region, that - during ten years-, It seeks to observe and evaluate the natural history of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, whose incidence in that area, is of the more high in Chile.
This research and monitoring to ten thousand inhabitants of the city, includes conducting surveys, biological sampling and other indicators, it allow to give an account of the biological and environmental factors that predispose to the development of chronic inflammation and diseases, such as, gallbladder cancer, disease that is the leading cause of cancer death in Chilean women. In this context, already have surveyed more 2,000 people and also, It has created a Bank of information and biological samples, located in Molina and Santiago, thereby enabling the advancement of studies.
"Our interest is to contribute to the public health of our country, delivering proposals to control the damage that are causing chronic diseases, which requires the support and vision of diverse disciplines, as we do so at our Center", designates the Dra. Catterina Ferreccio, Mauco project leader.
In both, Dr. Lavandero highlights that MAUCO is the first natural laboratory for the study of chronic diseases and that banks of data and samples will allow other scientists to validate its inquiries into these pathologies.
ACCDiS research
Dr. Andrew Quest (UCH), expert in gastric cancer, is convinced that the work done in ACCDiS will allow future, "impact on the way to investigate national health problems, contributing to convert knowledge into useful tools for public health policies".
With regard to your area, stresses the importance of further develop research in basic science that can "improve the methods of diagnosis and treatment of certain types of cancer very prevalent and lethal in Chile", as the gastric type, that causes the highest number of deaths from malignant tumors".
In the area of nanomedicine, directed by Dr. Marcelo Kogan (UCH), the efforts are running to generate specific and sensitive methods based on this technology, early detection of cancer and cardiovascular disease. "We hope to be able to search for biomarkers in blood or urine samples, whose levels are altered in early stages of these diseases, Act in time to prevent. In addition, We want to develop new pharmaceutical tools against cancer that deliver drugs in a more selective manner, avoiding the side effects of chemotherapy", researcher details.
Another outstanding advance of the scientific group, It is led by Dr. Alejandro Corbalan (PUC). It's their discoveries in gastric cancer and, especially, the discovery of a biomarker called Reprimo, that he has shown to be present in the initial stages of this disease. This element, that can be detected in a simple blood sample, continues its study and validation, in order to become a powerful diagnostic tool.
Advances in the knowledge of heart failure and the discovery of biomarkers for the disease, are also key inputs from ACCDiS. These studies are led by Dr.. Pablo Castro (PUC), who is also head of the coronary unit of the Clinic Hospital. "We focus on emerging biomarkers for heart failure, disease that is highly prevalent and has increased in relation to the ageing of the population and survival of other diseases", says the cardiologist. The efforts of the researcher are running what he calls medicine of the future, with the hope that, just taking a blood sample, you can get a profile of these indicators, and predict who will be candidates for cardiovascular pathologies. This will allow to prevent them, before that the heart change its structure and function.
Other issues addressed by the Centre are: ovarian cancer, tumor biology and inflammation, gallbladder cancer, environmental and social exhibitions in Mauco, energy metabolism and cardiovascular diseases. Also, include the service of markers of inflammation and microRNAs and service for pathophysiological animal studies.