Our researchers are a reflection of CISeAL's permanent effort to invest its best resources and human talent in the pursuit of wellbeing for those who need it the most.

Ana María Gómez, M.D.

 Evidence-Based Medicine applied to Infectious Diseases / HIV virus resistance.

  Education: 

• 2019 - currently. Ph.D. in Health Sciences, European University of Madrid. Madrid Spain.
• 2019. Fellowship in Infectious Diseases and HIV. Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Foundation for the Fight Against AIDS. Barcelona, Spain. 
• 2019. Master in Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Treatment. Cardenal Herrera University. Valencia, Spain. 
• 2019. Master in University Education. European University of Madrid, Spain.  
• 2018. Training - Internship hands-on Infectious Diseases / HIV / Transplant. University of Illinois Hospital. USA. 
• 2018. Diploma in Scientific Research Methodology. Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador. 
• 2017. Master in HIV infection. Rey University Juan Carlos. Madrid, Spain.
• 2016. Speciality in Internal Medicine. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.
• 2010. Medicine. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.

  Current position: 

• Associate Investigator to the group of Dr. Ruth Jimbo-Sotomayor at the Center for Research on Health in Latin America.
• Assistant Professor School of Medicine. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.
• Associate Researcher, One Health-Research Group. Universidad de las Américas, Quito Ecuador.
• Member of the scientific committee of the Municipality of Quito, for decision-making during the health emergency due to COVID-19. Quito Ecuador.
• Attending Physician of Internal Medicine. Novaclinica and Atlas Clinic. Quito Ecuador.

 Current research (PUCE): Health and Vulnerable Groups. 

  Recent publications: 

• López-Cortés, A., Guevara-Ramírez, P., Kyriakidis, N. C., Barba-Ostria, C., León Cáceres, Á., Guerrero, S., Ortiz-Prado, E., Munteanu, C. R., Tejera, E., Cevallos-Robalino, D., Gómez-Jaramillo, A. M., Simbaña-Rivera, K., Granizo-Martínez, A., Pérez-M, G., Moreno, S., García-Cárdenas, J. M., Zambrano, A. K., Pérez-Castillo, Y., Cabrera-Andrade, A., … Paz-y-Miño, C. (2021). In silico Analyses of Immune System Protein Interactome Network, Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of Human Tissues, and Artificial Neural Networks Reveal Potential Therapeutic Targets for Drug Repurposing Against COVID-19. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 12, 598925. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2021.598925

• Ortiz-Prado, E., Simbaña-Rivera, K., Gómez-Barreno, L., Rubio-Neira, M., Guaman, L. P., Kyriakidis, N. C., ... & López-Cortés, A. (2020). Clinical, molecular and epidemiological characterization of the SARS-CoV2 virus and the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a comprehensive literature review. Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease, 115094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2020.115094 

• López-Cortés, A., Guevara-Ramírez, P., Kyriakidis, N. C., Barba-Ostria, C., Cáceres, Á. L., Guerrero, S., ... & Paz-y-Miño, C. (2020). In Silico Analyses of Immune System Protein Interactome Network, Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of Human Tissues, and Artificial Neural Networks Reveal Potential Therapeutic Targets for Drug Repurposing Against COVID-19. ChemRxiv. Preprint. https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.12408074.v1

• Houck, K. M., Terán, E., Ochoa, J., Zapata, G. N., Gomez, A. M., Parra, R., ... & Thompson, A. L. (2019). Drinking water improvements and rates of urinary and gastrointestinal infections in Galápagos, Ecuador: Assessing household and community factors. American Journal of Human Biology, 32(1), e23358.  https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23358

  Orcid:  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2180-7316  

                  ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ana_Maria_Gomez_Jaramillo

Our researchers are a reflection of CISeAL's permanent effort to invest its best resources and human talent

in the pursuit of wellbeing for those who need it the most.

Luciana Armijos, M.D.     

Emerging diseases

  Education:

• 2017. Master in Public Health. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. USA. Speciality: Health Systems and Policies. 
• 2017. Certificate in Applied Epidemiology. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. USA.
• 2013. Doctor in Medicine. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España. Integrated Master in Medical Research.

  Current position: 

• Adjunct Investigator to the group of Dr. Ruth Jimbo-Sotomayor at the Center for Research on Health in Latin America.
• Consultant at Corporación Andina de Fomento – CAF.
• Postgraduate Professor, School of Medicine. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. 

 Current research (PUCE): Health and Vulnerable Groups.  

  Recent publications: 

• Armijos, L., Tello, B., Sevilla, C., Cano, I., Fonseca, J., Vivas, L., Rivadeneira, M., Jimbo, R., Sánchez, X., Santillán, N., Espín, I.  (2022). Development of a web-based tool –The Score Bebé ®– for enhancing neonatal risk stratification: A nationwide retrospective study. In: Jay Kalra and Nancy Lightner (eds) Healthcare and Medical Devices. AHFE (2022) International Conference. AHFE Open Access, vol 51. AHFE International, USA. http://doi.org/10.54941/ahfe1002102

• Jimbo-Sotomayor, R., Watts, E., Armijos, L., Sriudomporn, S., Sánchez, X., Echeverria, A., Whittembury, A., Patenaude, B. (2022). Return on Investment of 10-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in Ecuador From 2010 to 2030. Value in Health Regional Issues 31, 148-154. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vhri.2022.05.003

• Acosta-Vargas, P., Dueñas-Espín, I., Armijos, L., Fonseca, J., Santillán, N., Jimbo, R., Rivadeneira, M.F., Xánchez, X., Sevilla, C., Tello, B. and Vivas, L. (2021). Challenges of Web Accessibility in a Health Application to Predict Neonatal Mortality – The Score Bebe ®. In: Nunes I.L. (eds) Advances in Human Factors and System Interactions. AHFE 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 265. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79816-1_30

• Dueñas-Espín I, Armijos-Acurio L, Espín E, Espinosa-Herrera F, Jimbo R, León-Cáceres Á, et al. (2021) Is a higher altitude associated with shorter survival among at-risk neonates? PLoS ONE 16(7): e0253413. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253413

• Moreno Roca, A., Armijos Acurio, L., Jimbo Sotomayor, R., Céspedes Rivadeneira, C., Rosero Reyes, C. & López Ayala, C. (2021). Cohort study of the overall survival of patients with pancreatic cancer in a hospital of specialties of Quito-Ecuador in the period 2007–2017. Innovative Surgical Sciences, (). https://doi.org/10.1515/iss-2020-0030

• Sánchez, X., Orrico, M., Morillo, T., Manzano, A., Jimbo, R. and L. Armijos (2021). Reducing unnecessary antibiotic prescription through implementation of a clinical guideline on self-limiting respiratory tract infections. PLOS ONE 16(4): e0249475. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249475

• García, M., Acurio, M. L. A., Sotomayor, R. J., Sanchez, X., & Guijarro, S. (2019). Analysis of births, abortions and maternal mortality in adolescents in Ecuador from 2013 to 2016. International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpam.2019.07.002

• Choez, X. S., Acurio, M. L. A., & Sotomayor, R. E. J. (2018). Appropriateness and adequacy of antibiotic prescription for upper respiratory tract infections in ambulatory health care centers in Ecuador. BMC Pharmacology and Toxicology, 19(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40360-018-0237-y

• Ortiz-Prado, E., Castillo, T. A., Olmedo-López, M., Armijos, L., Ramírez, D., & Iturralde, A. L. (2018). Cesarean section rates in Ecuador: a 13-year comparative analysis between public and private health systems. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 41, e15. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2017.15  

• Pesántez-Ríos, G., Armijos-Acurio, L., Jimbo-Sotomayor, R., Pascual-Pascual, S. I., & Pesántez-Cuesta, G. (2017). Cannabidiol: uso en epilepsias refractarias. Rev. neurol.(Ed. impr.), 157-160. https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/portal/resource/pt/ibc-166091

• Armijos, L., Escalante, S., & Villacrés, T. (2017). La evaluación de tecnologías sanitarias en el Ministerio de Salud Pública de Ecuador como herramienta para la compra de medicamentos entre 2012 y 2015. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 41, e50. https://www.scielosp.org/article/rpsp/2017.v41/e50/es/

• Ortiz-Prado, E., Ponce-Zea, J., Ramirez, D., Stewart-Ibarra, A. M., Armijos, L., Yockteng, J., & Cárdenas, W. B. (2016). Rabies epidemiology and control in Ecuador. Global journal of health science, 8(3), 113. doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v8n3p113

  Orcid:  http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8881-1892 

                  ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria_Armijos

Marco Neira, PhD.
     

Biology, Physiology, and Control of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of medical interest

    Education: 

• 2013 - 2015. Postdoctoral fellow Fogarty International Center (National Institutes of Health), D43 Training Grant.
• 2009 - 2010. Postdoctoral fellow. Vector Group. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
• 2005 - 2009. Postdoctoral fellow.The Whitney Laboratory. University of Florida, St. Augustine, Florida.
• 2005. PhD. in Biological Sciences. Ohio University, OH, USA.
• 2001. Master in Arts. International Development Affairs – Health Concentration. Ohio University, OH, USA.
• 1999. Bachelor in Biology. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. 

  Current position:  

• Adjunct researcher to the group of Dr. Anita Villacís. 

  Recent publications: 

• Sippy, R., Rivera, G.E., Sanchez, V., ... and Neira, M. (2020). Ingested insecticide to control Aedes aegypti: developing a novel dried attractive toxic sugar bait device for intra-domiciliary control. Parasites Vectors 13, 78. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-3930-9

• Pilaquinga, F., Morejón, B., Ganchala, D., Morey, J., Piña, N., Debut, A. & Neira M. (2019). Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Solanum mammosum L. (Solanaceae) fruit extract and their larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae). PLOS ONE 14(10): e0224109. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224109

• Mordecai, E. A., Caldwell, J. M., Grossman, M. K., Lippi, C. A., Johnson, L. R., Neira, M., Rohr, J. R., Ryan, S. J., Savage, V., Shocket, M. S., Sippy, R., Stewart Ibarra, A. M., Thomas, M. B. and Villena, O. (2019), Thermal biology of mosquito‐borne disease. Ecol Lett. doi:10.1111/ele.13335

• Ryan, S., Mundis, S., Aguirre, A., Lippi, C., Beltrán, E., Heras, F., Stewart-Ibarra, A., Neira, M. 2019. Seasonal and geographic variation in insecticide resistance in Aedes aegypti in southern Ecuador. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 13(6): 00007448

• Morejón, B., Pilaquinga, F., Domenech, F., Ganchala, D., Debut, A., & Neira, M. (2018). Larvicidal Activity of Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Extracts of Ambrosia arborescens (Asteraceae) to Control Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae). Journal Of Nanotechnology, 1-8

Libros

• Anita G. Villacís, Fabián E. Sáenz, Marco V. Neira, Mario J. Grijalva. 2018. Ecosalud en las enfermedades transmitidas por vectores: Chagas, Dengue y Malaria. Tercer tomo (Ciencia de la Salud). La Medicina Ecuatoriana en el siglo XXI. Academia Ecuatoriana de Medicina Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Corporación Editora Nacional, editor Jaime Breilh.

  Orcid:  http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8068-5772 

                  ReseachGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marco_Neira