MEDICC Rev. 2021 Jan;23(1):12-17. doi: 10.37757/MR2021.V23.N1.5. Epub 2021 Jan 30.
Three fourths of the 175 staff at Cuba's National Medical Genetics Center (CNGM) are women. And women constitute 90% of the research team working on the Center's largest current project-unlocking the biological secrets of COVID-19 in the Cuban population. They are identifying particularly vulnerable groups and geographies, reviewing therapies applied and long-term sequelae of the disease, and contributing to ongoing vaccine research and trials. Their results are critical to determining effective preventive and treatment strategies as the country moves into the next phases of epidemic control. The national study is the first and only one of its kind in Latin America. Then the first COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in Cuba on March 11, 2020, the Center's role in epidemiological surveillance was activated, based on its experience with the Zika threat in 2015. This involved mobilizing the National Genetics Network anchored in primary healthcare facilities, comprised of 452 genetics counselors, nurses and clinical geneticists, supported by technicians, epidemiologists and family doctors. The Network's role would become key to the ensuing research. As the magnitude of the pandemic became clearer, CNGM investigators approached the Ministry of Public Health and government leaders with a broad-ranging proposal to study biological factors that would help explain differences in vulnerability, symptoms, immune response and severity of the disease, as well as its profile in different Cuban subpopulations. After approval, the studies got underway in June, encompassing Cubans who had been infected through June 11, 2020, and were by now convalescing. The nine main research lines were defined, and principal investigators went to work developing the instruments needed and training personnel across the island on their use. While final results are still being analyzed, CNGM Director Dr Beatriz Marcheco and four lead researchers talked with MEDICC Review about the scope of their work and some of the most intriguing preliminary findings.
古巴国家医学遗传学中心（CNGM）的 175 名工作人员中有四分之三是女性。而在该中心目前最大的项目中，有 90%的研究团队是女性，该项目旨在揭示古巴人群中 COVID-19 的生物学秘密。她们正在确定特别脆弱的群体和地区，审查所应用的治疗方法和疾病的长期后果，并为正在进行的疫苗研究和试验做出贡献。随着该国进入疫情控制的下一阶段，她们的研究结果对于确定有效的预防和治疗策略至关重要。这项全国性研究是拉丁美洲第一个也是唯一一个此类研究。然后，2020 年 3 月 11 日，古巴首次确诊了 COVID-19 病例，该中心基于其在 2015 年应对寨卡威胁的经验，激活了流行病学监测作用。这涉及动员以初级保健设施为基础的国家遗传学网络，该网络由 452 名遗传咨询师、护士和临床遗传学家组成，由技术人员、流行病学家和家庭医生提供支持。该网络的作用将成为随后研究的关键。随着大流行的规模变得更加清晰，CNGM 的研究人员向公共卫生部和政府领导人提出了一项广泛的提议，研究有助于解释脆弱性、症状、免疫反应和疾病严重程度差异的生物学因素，以及该疾病在不同古巴亚群中的特征。获得批准后，研究于 6 月开始进行，涵盖了截至 2020 年 6 月 11 日已经感染的古巴人，他们现在已经康复。确定了 9 个主要研究方向，首席研究员开始开发所需的工具，并在全岛范围内培训人员使用这些工具。虽然最终结果仍在分析中，但 CNGM 主任 Beatriz Marcheco 博士和四位首席研究员与 MEDICC 评论谈到了她们工作的范围以及一些最有趣的初步发现。
