Member Profile
Membership type: full
Luz Maria Chacon Jimenez
Country of origin: Costa Rica Currently in: Costa Rica, Aserri General field of specialization: Medical and Health Sciences incl Neurosciences-
Degrees
2023 Doctorate Medical and Health Sciences incl Neurosciences -
Current Research Activities
Biological Systems and Organisms
Researcher at the Institute for Health Research (INISA) and faculty member at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Costa Rica (UCR). My academic background includes a Bachelor's degree in Microbiology and Clinical Chemistry, a Master's in Biochemistry, and a PhD in Sciences, all obtained at UCR. With over 15 years of experience, my research focuses on the detection of microbial pathogens in water, the impact of urban contaminants on bacterial models, and the spread of antibiotic resistance determinants in aquatic ecosystems. I am a member of the Costa Rican Association of Microbiology and Parasitology, the International Water Association (IWA), and the Health-Related Water Microbiology Specialist Group. I have led international projects and published numerous articles on antibiotic resistance and water microbiological quality, contributing to the improvement of public health policies and environmental management.
Publications resulting from Research:
Publications (last 5 years):
1. Morales-Mora E, Badilla-Aguilar A, Rivera-Navarro P, Alfaro-Arrieta E, Barrantes-Jiménez K, Ruepert C, Crowe J, Chacón-Jiménez L. 2024. Evaluación simplificada de riesgo biológico ocupacional en tres plantas de tratamiento de aguas residuales. Medicina y Seguridad del Trabajo. doi: 10.4321/s0465-546x2023000400002
2. Chacon L, Rojas-Jiménez K, Mena F, Arias-Andres M. 2023. Bacterial communities in residential wastewater treatment plants are physiologically adapted to high concentrations of quaternary ammonium compounds. CLEAN; 2300056. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/clen.202300056
3. Chacón L, Morales E, Alfaro-Arrieta E, Valiente C, Reyes L, Barrantes K. 2023. Rendimiento de plantas de tratamiento de aguas residuales del Gran Área Metropolitana, Costa Rica. Revista Tecnología en Marcha, 36 (4). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18845/tm.v36i4.6398
4. Barrantes-Jiménez K, Chacón-Jiménez L, Rivera-Montero L, Segura-Villalta A, Badilla-Aguilar A, Alfaro-Arrieta E, Rivera-Navarro P, Méndez-Chacón E, Santamaría-Ulloa C. 2023. Challenges in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater in tropical countries: the case of Costa Rica. Science of the Total Environment, 897:165393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165393
5. Chacón L, Kuropka B, Gonzalez-Tortuero E, Schreiber F, Rojas-Jiménez K, Rodríguez-Rojas A. 2023. Mechanisms of low susceptibilty to the disinfectant benzalkonium chloride in a multidrug-resistante environmental isolate of Aeromonas hydrophila. Frontiers Microbiology, 14-2023. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1180128
6. Rivera-Montero L, Acuña G, Barrantes K, Rojas-Jiménez K, Chacón L. Multi-drug-resistant Escherichia coli in Costa Rican domestic wastewater treatment plants maintain horizontal transfer capacity of resistance-determinants in effluents. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, (2023) 234:397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06401-w
7. Morales E, Badilla A, Rivera P, Alfaro E, Symonds EM, Barrantes K, Ruepert C, Crowe J, Chacón L. 2023. A novel approach to biological risk surveillance in occupational hygiene: A case study on the use of quantitative microbial risk assessment to determine occupational risks of wastewater treatment plants workers in Costa Rica. Microbial Risk Analysis, 24:100262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mran.2023.100262
8. Fuentes-Schweizer P, Morales Mora E, Vargas Muñoz R, Barrantes Jiménez K, Chacón Jiménez L. 2023. Diagnóstico geoquímico del agua subterránea en la zona fronteriza de Los Chiles, Costa Rica. UNED Research Journal, 15(2): e4656. https://doi.org/10.22458/urj.v15i2.4656
9. Chacón L, Mora A. Problemas asociados a la gestión social del agua en seis comunidades indígenas costarricenses (2019-2020). 2023. Población y Salud en Mesoamérica. 20(2). https://doi.org/10.15517/psm.v20i2.51020
10. Morales-Mora E, Barrantes-Jiménez K, Beita-Sandí W, Chacón-Jiménez L. 2022. Caso de estudio: evaluación de riesgo a bajas concentraciones de arsénico en trabajadores agrícolas. UNED Research Journal. 14(2): e4070. https://doi.org/10.22458/urj.v14i2.4070
11. Campos-González N, Ruiz-Jiménez S, Rodríguez-Jiménez J, Chacón-Jiménez L. 2022. Aplicaciones terapéuticas del eculizumab. Univ. Salud, 2022;24(2):184-196. https://doi.org/10.22267/rus.222402.271
12. Morales E, Ibarra G, Reyes L, Barrantes K, Achí R, Chacón L. 2022. Disease burden from simultaneous exposure of Cryptosporidium sp. And Giardia sp. and land use vulnerability assessment in a Costa Rican drinking water system. Microbial Risk Analysis, 21:100213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mran.2022.100213
13. Barrantes K, Chacón L, Morales E, Rivera-Montero L, Pino M, Gamboa Jiménez A, Campos Mora D, Salas Jiménez P, Silva B, Romero-Esquivel L.G. 2022. Occurrence of pathogenic microorganisms in small drinking-water systems in Costa Rica. Journal Water and Health. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2022.230
14. Morales-Mora E, Reyes-Lizano L, Barrantes-Jiménez K, Chacón-Jiménez L. 2022. Evaluación temporal y espacial en la calidad microbiológica del agua superficial: caso en un sistema de abastecimiento de agua para consumo humano en Costa Rica. Revista de Ciencias Ambientales, 56(1): 120-137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15359/rca.56-1.6
15. Chacón L, Hall K, Rivera P, Reyes L, Achí R, Barrantes K. 2022. Circulation of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli associated virulence genes in Costa Rican Great Metropolitan Area wastewaters. Población y Salud en Mesoamérica, 19(2). DOI 10.15517/PSM.V0I19.48037
16. Barrantes K, Chacón L, Arias-Andrés M. 2022. The impact of the antibiotics resistance on the sustainable development. Población y Salud en Mesoamérica, 19(2). DOI 10.15517/PSM.V19I2.47590
17. Chacón L, Reyes L, Rivera L, Barrantes K. 2022. Chapter 4: Transport, fate, and bioavailability of emerging pollutants in soil, sediment, and wastewater treatment plants: Potential environmental impacts. In: Emerging contaminants in the environment: Challenges and Sustainable Practices. Edited by Sarma H, Domínguez D, and Lee W-Y. Elsevier. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-323-85160-2.00020-2
18. Carvajal Gómez, L; Vargas Chaves, J; Roldán Ocampo, M; Pizarro Díaz, I; Mayorga Villegas, J; Chacón Jiménez, L. 2021. Enfermedad celíaca y diabetes mellitus tipo 1: relación y diagnóstico. Revista del Colegio de Microbiólogos y Químicos Clínicos de Costa Rica, 26(3): 161-176. http://revista.microbiologos.cr/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Volumen-26-Nº3-artículo-1-161-176.pdf
19. Chacón L, Arias-Andres M, Mena F, Rivera L, Hernández L, Achí R, García F, Rojas-Jiménez K. 2021. Short-term exposure to benzalkonium chloride in bacteria from activated sludge alters the community diversity and the antibiotic resistance profile. Journal Water and Health. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2021.171
20. Domínguez D, Chacón L, Wallace D. 2021. Anthropogenic Activities and the Problem of Antibiotic Resistance in Latin America: A Water Issue. Water, 13(19). https://doi.org/10.3390/w13192693
21. Chacón L, Morales E, Valiente C, Reyes L, Barrantes K. 2021. Wastewater-based epidemiology of enteric viruses and surveillance of acute gastrointestinal illness outbreaks in a resource-limited region. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 105(4): 1004-1012. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.21-0050
22. Badilla Zamora, I., Barrantes Jiménez, K., Chacón Jiménez, L. M., Fuentes Schweizer, P., Jiménez Corrales, R., Morales Mora, E., Segura Esquivel, S., Solís Sánchez, G., Vargas Muñoz, R., y Villalobos Vega, P. (2021). Guía de mediación pedagógica para aprendizajes comunitarios: Comités de agua transfronterizos, Costa Rica-Nicaragua (First edit). CONARE-OPES. http://repositorio.conare.ac.cr/handle/20.500.12337/8078
23. Barrantes K, Araya J, Chacón L, Procúpez R and Soto V. 2021. Chapter 11: Antiviral, antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties of biosurfactants; sustainable use in food and pharmaceuticals. In "Biosurfactants for a Sustainable Future: Production and Application in the Environment and Biomedicine”. Edited by Hemen Sarma and Majeti Narasimha Vara Prasad. Wiley and Sons
24. Chacón L, Barrantes K, Santamaría-Ulloa C, Solano M, Reyes L, Taylor L, Valiente C, Symonds E, Achí R. 2020. A somatic coliphages threshold approach to improve the management of activated sludge wastewater treatment plant effluents in resource-limited regions. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 86(17): e00616-e00620. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.00616-20
25. Chacón L, Rojas K. 2020. Resistencia a desinfectantes y su relación con la resistencia a los antibióticos. Acta Médica Costarricense, 62(1). DOI: 10.51481/amc.v62i1.1054
26. Barrantes K, Chacon L, Morales E, Ramírez L. 2020. Draft genome sequence of an Escherichia coli strain harboring blaCTX-M-115, blaCMY-2, aminoglycoside, tetracycline, and sulfonamide resistance genes, isolated from a Costa Rican wastewater treatment plant. Microbiology Resource Announcements, 9:e01015-e01019. DOI: 10.1128/MRA.01015-19
27. Camacho M, Fernández D, Solís P, Fernández J, Chacón L. 2019. Situación Actual de Egresos Hospitalarios asociados a Enfermedad de Wilson en Costa Rica (Current Situation of Hospital Discharges associated with Wilson's Disease in Costa Rica). Revista del Colegio de Microbiólogos y Químicos Clínicos de Costa Rica, 25(3):160-174. http://revista.microbiologos.cr/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Articulo-1.pdf
28. Morales E, Solano M, Morles R, Reyes L, Barrantes K, Achí R, Chacón L. 2019. Evaluación de la estacionalidad climática en calidad del agua de consumo humano en un sistema de abastecimiento en San José, Costa Rica, periodo 2017-2018. Revista Costarricense de Salud Pública, 28(1):77-87. https://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1409-14292019000100048&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=es
29. Solano M, Morales E, Chacón L, Cordero E, Reyes L, Barrantes K, Achí R. 2019. Low cost internal controls for detection of Giardia spp cysts in water samples. Parasitology International, 71:177-179. DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2019.04.012
Current profession
Current professional activities type:Research
