Dr. Manuel Ramirez-Zea (MD, PhD) is the Head of the INCAP Research Center for the Prevention of Chronic Diseases (CIIPEC), the Laboratory of Physiology and Body Composition and the Department of Nutrition and Chronic Diseases, at the Institute for Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP). Dr. Ramirez-Zea has implemented several research projects on epidemiology and interventions on primary and secondary prevention of chronic diseases related to obesity, nutrition, physical activity, energy expenditure, body composition, and cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adults. He has mentored more than 50 undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students. He has more than 130 publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. Recently, Dr. Ramirez-Zea was awarded the Science and Technology Medal, the highest distinction awarded by the Guatemalan government to professionals who excel in areas of scientific research or technological development of national interest.

 

Challenges and opportunities of coordinating a multi-country study in Central America

 

Dr. Monica Mazariegos is a researcher at the INCAP Research Center for the Prevention of Chronic Diseases (CIIPEC). She has more than 10 years of experience in the identification and analysis of health problems from a life-course perspective and in the analysis of complex longitudinal data. Her research focus on the epidemiology of all forms of malnutrition, the design and evaluation of programs and policies to improve population nutrition, maternal and child health, the epidemiology of pregnancy, women’s reproductive health across the life-course, breastfeeding, and the identification of nutritional, metabolic and lifestyle risk factors for obesity and diabetes. Dr. Mazariegos has more than 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals and four book chapters. Currently, she is studying how urban environments and urban policies impact city dwellers’ health throughout Latin America.

 

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