Overview of some biomedical research projects in tropical medicine conducted at the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas

The Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas (IVIC) is a governm ent-funded multidisciplinary academic institution dedicated to research, de velopment and technology in many areas of knowledge. Biomedical projects an d publications comprise about 40% of the total at IVIC. In this article, we present an overview of some selected research and development projects con ducted at IVIC which we believe contain new and important aspects related t o malaria, ancylostomiasis, dengue fever, leishmaniasis and tuberculosis. O ther projects considered of interest in the general area of tropical medici ne are briefly described. This article was prepared as a small contribution to honor and commemorate the centenary of the Institute Oswaldo Cruz.