Dionicia Gamboa is a

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

parasitologist and professor at Institute of Tropical Medicine Alexander von Humboldt,

Cayetano Heredia University Cayetano Heredia University (, UPCH; or simply ''Cayetano Heredia'') is a private nonprofit university located in Lima, Peru. It was named in honor of Cayetano Heredia, one of the eminent Peruvian physicians of the 19th century. The universit ...

. Her research focusses on ''

Plasmodium vivax ''Plasmodium vivax'' is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen. This parasite is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring malaria. Although it is less virulent than ''Plasmodium falciparum'', the deadliest of the five huma ...

,'' a major malaria parasite species in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

(as well as

South-East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia i ...

Early life and education

Gamboa grew up in Chiclayo. She studied at I.E. Nuestra Señora del Rosario School. When Gamboa finished school, she moved to

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

to pursue university studies. While studying to apply for university, Gamboa found her true passion for research, and eventually did her bachelor's degree in biology and master's degree in biochemistry at

. Few years later, Gamboa moved to

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

for her PhD on

Leishmania ''Leishmania'' () is a genus of parasitic protozoans, single-celled eukaryotic organisms of the trypanosomatid group that are responsible for the disease leishmaniasis. The parasites are transmitted by sandflies of the genus '' Phlebotomus'' ...

Maastricht University Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; ) is a public university, public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen List of universities in the Netherlands, Dutch universities. In ...

Research

She built up the malaria group at the Institute of Tropical Medicine to a team of around 50 people conducting lab-based studies locally in Lima and field-work around

Iquitos Iquitos (; ) is the capital city of Peru's Maynas Province, Peru, Maynas Province and Loreto Region. It is the largest metropolis in the Peruvian Amazon, east of the Andes, as well as the List of cities in Peru, ninth-most populous city in Peru ...

. Gamboa and her group work with Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases,

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

, and the Peruvian Ministry of Health, to track mosquito breeding and malaria transmission in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

. 96% of the malaria burden for Peru is found in the rainforest-laden Department of Loreto, where the most abundant vector is '' Anopheles darlingi'' mosquitoes. Her research team used aerial drones to construct maps of where large bodies of stagnant water can be found across the rural region, which provide fertile habitats for developing mosquitoes. Gamboa was awarded an

Elsevier Foundation Award The OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World are awarded annually to early-career women scientists in selected developing countries in four regions: Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia, Ea ...

in 2013 for her work as a young woman scientist on her continent. However she recently commented on the disappointment that her country was no longer entitled to discounted access to the Elsevier journals due to recent economic growth. In 2016 Gamboa was given the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards by

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and The National Council for Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (''Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica''), worth 45,000

Peruvian sol The sol (; plural: soles; currency sign: S/) is the currency of Peru; it is subdivided into 100 ''céntimos'' ("cents"). The ISO 4217 currency code is PEN. The sol replaced the Peruvian inti in 1991 and the name is a return to that of Peru's h ...

s. Gamboa is a project lead at the Amazonian Center of Excellence in Malaria Research established by the NIH and led by Joseph Vinetz.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamboa, Dionicia Women parasitologists Peruvian women scientists Peruvian microbiologists Malariologists Maastricht University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)