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In 1980, Scott O’Neill set out to find a way to control Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Today, thanks to his work, infecting these mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria, dengue, Zika, and chikungunya has significantly declined across 14 countries and territories. The Australian scientist recently visited Medellín to showcase the project’s results in the Aburrá Valley, where the World Mosquito Program (WMP) and UdeA’s Program for the Study and Control of Tropical Diseases (Pecet) led the initiative.

The cotton-top tamarin’s striking white plume and natural charm have placed it at risk. To support conservation efforts for this species across five Colombian departments, María Alejandra Jiménez Cadavid is leading a project focused on mapping its genetic traces. Her research outshone 95 other applicants and won her the Colombia Biodiversa 2024 Scholarship, awarded by the Alejandro Angel Escobar Foundation.

Universidad de Antioquia, along with public and private universities and commercial partners, successfully sequenced the complete genomes of two Colombian centenarians—a man and a woman. This achievement provides a foundation for exploring the factors that allow people to live over 100 years.

For eight years, the Max Planck Tandem Group in Nanobioengineering at the Universidad de Antioquia has focused on designing miniature devices that can diagnose diseases and deliver targeted treatments at the cellular level. These devices also promise to pave the way for more effective, personalized therapies with minimal side effects. In recognition of their groundbreaking work, the research team, led by Jahir Orozco Holguín, received the Universidad de Antioquia Research Award from the Academic Council in 2024.

Researchers at the Universidad de Antioquia studied 88 patients with active tuberculosis to create a model that predicts the infection’s severity from its early stages. This breakthrough enables more precise treatments. By combining clinical data, blood serum protein analysis, and bacterial genomic sequencing, the researchers made a significant discovery in Medellín, where tuberculosis risk is 2.7 times higher than in the rest of Colombia.