November 10, 2000

Patricia Dorn teams with Guatemalan professor to combat Chagas's Disease

Carmen de Tercero, Ph.D., associate director of research for San Carlos University in Guatemala, visited the laboratory of Patricia Dorn, Ph.D, associate professor of biological sciences at Loyola in September. De Tercero came to campus to learn a DNA-based technique for detecting the parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi.

This parasite causes Chagas' disease, which is a leading cause of heart disease in Latin America. Recently efforts have begun in Guatemala to control the spread of this disease. As part of de Tercero's study, blood samples were collected from nearly 4,000 children in Guatemala and analyzed for evidence of exposure to the parasite. Several of the children tested positive for exposure to the parasite however, those positive results could also mean that the children had been exposed to related parasite that does not cause disease.

De Tercero came to Dorn's laboratory to learn a DNA-based technique that Dorn has developed that distinguishes between the harmless parasite and the one that causes Chagas disease. Dorn will apply this technique to the positive samples to learn how many children are actually infected with the Chagas' parasite.

This summer, Dorn and her student, Astrid Gutierrez, spent two and a half weeks in Guatemala where they conducted a workshop on "The Theory and Practice of Molecular Techniques for Analyzing the Genetics of Populations." The workshop was conducted at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala for approximately 40 investigators from several countries in Latin America.

In addition to teaching the basic theory of population genetics, Dorn trained the investigators in making their own reagents so that they can afford to use modern molecular techniques in their own research laboratories. Dorn and Gutierrez were accompanied by Bob Thomas, Ph.D., chair of environmental communications, and Julie DesOrmeaux, a senior communications major, who filmed the work so that the course would be available to many more investigators. This work is part of Dorn's longstanding collaboration with investigators in Guatemala to try to control Chagas' disease. This work also helps to develop the scientific infrastructure of developing countries and is part of Dorn's work on appropriate technology transfer.