ULS is awarded funds to establish a diagnostic laboratory for COVID-19

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This will allow us to increase the national diagnostic capacity, within the framework of the health crisis.

The University of La Serena made available the Silvigenomics and Biotechnology Laboratory, of its Biology Department, in order to expand the diagnostic capacity for COVID-19 in the region and the country.

laboratory2Thanks to the COVID-19 Diagnostic Strengthening Fund delivered by the National Research Agency (ANID), the ULS hopes to refine the protocols established by the Health Service, so that the laboratory begins its operation, in order to support the diagnostic capacity and decongest health systems.

“The ANID Fund awarded by the University of La Serena, and which consists of 25 million pesos, will allow us to raise both the most serious observations that the Coquimbo Health Service had made to us, as well as the hiring of four full-time people for 4 months to support the SARS CoV-2 diagnostic work,” said Dr. Cristian Ibáñez, academic in charge of the laboratory and head of the ANID Fund at the ULS.

The objective of this fund is to support the national network of laboratories in the provision of diagnostic tests, collaborating to expand national coverage, as well as supporting institutions that contribute to the analysis of data for the management of the pandemic, both by strengthening the system. scientific and technological, within the framework of this health crisis.

Once the pandemic generated by SARS-CoV-2 was declared in Chile, the universities were organized, coordinated by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation and the Ministry of Health, to offer their laboratories and thus increase the diagnostic capacity for COVID-19.

Dr. Cristian Ibáñez explained that “the university laboratories have contacted us through a chat, where we daily update information on the progress of this pandemic, the effectiveness of the applied protocols and share experiences that each laboratory is obtaining in its diagnostic tests. , which has been a very fruitful source of information that has benefited us all to more quickly face the tremendous country challenge that we have assumed as university institutions.”

Ibáñez indicated that although the laboratories are not clinical in general, the institutions make efforts to convert their research laboratories. In this sense, the support of equipment from the Microbiology Laboratory of the Department of Food Engineering, headed by Dr. Karina Stucken, and the efforts carried out by the Rector's Office with the Compañía Minera del Pacífico-CMP, for the donation of a Cabinet Biosafety Type A2, high-level equipment, are essential.

“The support received from the University and its authorities, and from private companies, has been important to be able to implement the laboratory according to the standards requested by the Ministry of Health, which will now be complemented with the funds provided by ANID. . We hope to soon be ready to request the second visit from the Coquimbo Health Service, to receive official authorization to begin the diagnosis of SARS CoV-2 samples in our laboratory for the Coquimbo Region or any other region that needs it,” concluded Dr. Cristian Ibáñez.

Written by Sergio Muñoz, Office of Dissemination and Dissemination of Science and Technology