Dionicia Gamboa
About me
Dionicia B. Gamboa Vilela is a biologist with a Master in Biochemistry, both degrees from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH). She got a PhD in Biomedical sciences at University of Maastricht, The Netherlands within a program supported by the Belgian cooperation from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. Currently, she is Full Professor at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering (FACI) at UPCH and director of the Laboratory Malaria: parasites and vectors that belong to the Laboratorios de Investigación y Desarrollo (LID – FACI – UPCH).
She carries out research projects in the area of health and tropical infectious diseases, specifically malaria in the Peruvian Amazon region. Her projects include the development and use of specialized molecular tools for diagnosis, genetic characterization, and surveillance of the parasites and vectors. She has more than 100 publications and more than 45 students (under and postgraduate).
Since 2008 she is member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), she is also member and part of the board directory of the Peruvian National Academy of Science (ANC).
Dr. Gamboa has expertise in molecular and cellular biology acquired during her PhD working with Leishmania parasites at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium and since 2003 her research is focused on Malaria. Her group conducts multidisciplinary malaria projects, which span from basic microscopy to specialized laboratory techniques (i.e., genotyping by microsatellites and SNPs, next generation sequencing, among others) including field work in rural remote areas in the Peruvian Amazon region. She was the Project co-leader of the Peruvian epidemiology component (Project 1) of the U19 Amazonian International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research (Amazonia-ICEMR) focused on getting scientific evidence with a multidisciplinary approach contributing with the Peruvian Minister of Health in the goal to control and eliminate malaria. She is also active as mentor of undergraduate / postgraduate students and junior faculty / early career researchers, and she was also a Co-Director of a Fogarty International Center/NIH Global Infectious Diseases Training program (PI: JM Vinetz) and Coordinator of a PhD program in Life Sciences financed by the Peruvian National Council of Science.
Recent and ongoing relevant projects:
FA5 DGD-ITM-08, Belgian Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGD) (PI: Coralith García, Role: associated investigator); 01/01/2022 – 12/31/2026 (competitively renewed 2021)
Better policies and less infectious diseases in Peru and Latin America
FWO G0A4222N, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) (PI: JP Van geertruyden, Co-PI: C Delgado Ratto, Role: Co-PI in Peru); 01/01/2022 - 31/12/2025
Unraveling the contribution of Plasmodium vivax metapopulation on the persistence of malaria transmission in residual areas.
Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition (APDC) (PI: JM Vinetz, K Torres, D Gamboa); 01/03/2023 – 30/03/2025.
Protecting public health through virus surveillance and Discovery
78584 PROCIENCIA, Peruvian National Council of Science (CONCYTEC), (PI: SM Chenet Carrasco, Role: Co-Investigator); 2022-2024.
Vigilancia genómica de Plasmodium y su impacto en el control de la malaria en comunidades nativas de la región Condorcanqui, Amazonas.
Other Memberships/Affiliations
Degrees:
2. Delgado-Ratto C, Gamboa D, Soto-Calle VE, Van den Eede P, Torres E, Sánchez-Martínez L, Contreras-Mancilla J, Rosanas-Urgell A, Rodriguez Ferrucci H, Llanos-Cuentas A, Erhart A, Van Geertruyden JP, D'Alessandro U. Population Genetics of Plasmodium vivax in the Peruvian Amazon. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016 Jan 14;10(1):e0004376. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004376. eCollection 2016 Jan. PubMed PMID: 26766548
3. Serra-Casas E, Manrique P, Ding XC, Carrasco-Escobar G, Alava F, Gave A, Rodriguez H, Contreras-Mancilla J, Rosas-Aguirre A, Speybroeck N, González IJ, Rosanas-Urgell A, Gamboa D. 2017. Loop-mediated isothermal DNA amplification for asymptomatic malaria detection in challenging field settings: Technical performance and pilot implementation in the Peruvian Amazon. PLoS One. Oct 5;12(10):e0185742. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185742. eCollection 2017. PMID: 28982155.
4. Manrique P, Miranda-Alban J, Alarcon-Baldeon J, Ramirez R, Carrasco-Escobar G, Herrera H, Guzman-Guzman M, Rosas-Aguirre A, Llanos-Cuentas A, Vinetz JM, Escalante AA, Gamboa D. 2019. Microsatellite analysis reveals connectivity among geographically distant transmission zones of Plasmodium vivax in the Peruvian Amazon: A critical barrier to regional malaria elimination. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 Nov 11;13(11):e0007876. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007876. PMID: 31710604; PMCID: PMC6874088.
5. Saavedra, M. P., Conn, J. E., Alava, F., Carrasco-Escobar, G., Prussing, C., Bickersmith, S. A., Sangama, J. L., Fernandez-Miñope, C., Guzman, M., Tong, C., Valderrama, C., Vinetz, J. M., Gamboa, D., & Moreno, M. (2019). Higher risk of malaria transmission outdoors than indoors by Nyssorhynchus darlingi in riverine communities in the Peruvian Amazon. Parasites & vectors, 12(1), 374. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-019-3619-0
6. Prussing C, Saavedra MP, Bickersmith SA, Alava F, Guzmán M, Manrique E, Carrasco-Escobar G, Moreno M, Gamboa D, Vinetz JM, Conn JE. 2019. Malaria vector species in Amazonian Peru co-occur in larval habitats but have distinct larval microbial communities. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 May 15;13(5):e0007412. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007412. PMID: 31091236; PMCID: PMC6538195.
7. Carrasco-Escobar G, Manrique E, Ruiz-Cabrejos J, Saavedra M, Alava F, Bickersmith S, Prussing C, Vinetz JM, Conn JE, Moreno M, Gamboa D. 2019. High-accuracy detection of malaria vector larval habitats using drone-based multispectral imagery. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. ;13(1):e0007105. Published 2019 Jan 17. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007105.
8. Rougeron V, Elguero E, Arnathau C, Acuña Hidalgo B, Durand P, Houze S, Berry A, Zakeri S, Haque R, Shafiul Alam M, Nosten F, Severini C, Gebru Woldearegai T, Mordmüller B, Kremsner PG, González-Cerón L, Fontecha G, Gamboa D, Musset L, Legrand E, Noya O, Pumpaibool T, Harnyuttanakorn P, Lekweiry KM, Mohamad Albsheer M, Mahdi Abdel Hamid M, Boukary AOMS, Trape JF, Renaud F, Prugnolle F. 2020. Human Plasmodium vivax diversity, population structure and evolutionary origin. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Mar 9;14(3):e0008072. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008072. PMID: 32150544; PMCID: PMC7082039.
9. Jang IK, Tyler A, Lyman C, Rek JC, Arinaitwe E, Adrama H, Murphy M, Imwong M, Proux S, Haohankhunnatham W, Barney R, Rashid A, Kalnoky M, Kahn M, Golden A, Nosten F, Greenhouse B, Gamboa D, Domingo GJ. 2020. Multiplex Human Malaria Array: Quantifying Antigens for Malaria Rapid Diagnostics. Am J Trop Med Hyg.102(6):1366-1369. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.19-0763.
10. Nolasco O, Infante B, Contreras-Mancilla J, Incardona S, Ding XC, Gamboa D, Torres K. 2020. Diagnosis of Plasmodium vivax by Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification in Febrile Patient Samples from Loreto, Perú. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Oct;103(4):1549-1552. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0212. PMID: 32748776; PMCID: PMC7543827.
11. Nolasco O, Montoya J, Rosales Rosas AL, Barrientos S, Rosanas-Urgell A, Gamboa D. 2021. Multicopy targets for Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum detection by colorimetric LAMP. Malar J. 2021 May 19;20(1):225. doi: 10.1186/s12936-021-03753-8. PMID: 34011373; PMCID: PMC8135177.
12. Villasis, E., Garro, K., Rosas-Aguirre, A., Rodriguez, P., Rosado, J., Gave, A., Guzman-Guzman, M., Manrique, P., White, M., Speybroeck, N., Vinetz, J. M., Torres, K., & Gamboa, D. (2021). PvMSP8 as a Novel Plasmodium vivax Malaria Sero-Marker for the Peruvian Amazon. Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland), 10(3), 282. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10030282
13. Rosado, J., White, M. T., Longley, R. J., Lacerda, M., Monteiro, W., Brewster, J., Sattabongkot, J., Guzman-Guzman, M., Llanos-Cuentas, A., Vinetz, J. M., Gamboa, D., & Mueller, I. (2021). Heterogeneity in response to serological exposure markers of recent Plasmodium vivax infections in contrasting epidemiological contexts. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 15(2), e0009165. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009165
14. Rosas-Aguirre, A., Guzman-Guzman, M., Chuquiyauri, R., Moreno, M., Manrique, P., Ramirez, R., Carrasco-Escobar, G., Rodriguez, H., Speybroeck, N., Conn, J. E., Gamboa, D., Vinetz, J. M., & Llanos-Cuentas, A. (2021). Temporal and Microspatial Heterogeneity in Transmission Dynamics of Coendemic Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum in Two Rural Cohort Populations in the Peruvian Amazon. The Journal of infectious diseases, 223(8), 1466–1477. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaa526
15. Rosas-Aguirre A, Moreno M, Moreno-Gutierrez D, Llanos-Cuentas A, Saavedra M, Contreras-Mancilla J, Barboza J, Alava F, Aguirre K, Carrasco G, Prussing C, Vinetz J, Conn JE, Speybroeck N, Gamboa D. 2021. Integrating Parasitological and Entomological Observations to Understand Malaria Transmission in Riverine Villages in the Peruvian Amazon. J Infect Dis. 2021 Apr 27;223(Supplement_2):S99-S110. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa496. PMID: 33906225; PMCID: PMC8079135.
Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1JAgLbZTAf_5E/bibliography/public/