Subdirectors
Grants

Elard Koch, PhD
Chairman, Head of Research
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“POSTERGACIÓN DE LA MATERNIDAD DE LA MUJER CHILENA Y SU IMPACTO SOBRE EL PERFIL DE CAUSAS DE MORTALIDAD MATERNA: ESTUDIO DE SERIES DE TIEMPO PARALELAS ENTRE 1960 Y 2010”. CONICYT, FONDEF (FONIS) SA13I20430. Amount: US$ 40,000 (201 - Ene 2017)
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“BIOMARKERS FOR THE PRESENCE OF A HUMAN EMBRYO DURING THE FIRST DAYS AFTER CONCEPTION IN UTERINE-CERVICAL MUCUS SAMPLES”. Fundacion de Investigación San Ramon (FISAR) and Patrick Slim funds. Amount: US$ 1,700,000.00 (Nov 2013 - Ene 2016)
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“FEMALE SUICIDE RATE AND ABORTION LEGISLATION: A NATURAL EXPERIMENT IN SPAIN BETWEEN 1960 AND 2009”. FISAR Grant MEL304072012. Amount: US$ 49,500.00 (Jan 2013 - Jan 2017)
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“INDUCED ABORTIONS IN COLOMBIA: REVIEW OF RECENT ESTIMATES”. ALAFA. Amount: US$ 5,000.00 (Nov 2011 - Jan 2012)
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“SAN FRANCISCO PROJECT: 12 YEAR FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF CORONARY HEART DISEASE EVENTS”. Fundacion Araucaria, San Diego, CA. Grant FA01052011. Amount: US$ 10,000.00 (Aug 2011 - Dec 2012)
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“HYPERTENSION COHORT: BASELINE OF CARDIOVASCULAR MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY PREDICTIVE FACTORS”. Fundación Araucaria, San Diego, CA. Grant FA02052011. Amount: US$ 8,000.00 (Aug 2011- Dec 2012)
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“WHICH ARE THE MAIN FACTORS RELATED TO MATERNAL AND ABORTION MORTALITY REDUCTION IN CHILE? TIME SERIES ANALYSES FROM 1957 TO 2007”. UNC Research Foundation, Chapel Hill, USA & ISFEM-0910. Santiago, Chile. Amount: US$ 117,312.00 (Oct 2010 - April 2012)
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MATERNAL MORTALITY IN CHILE: TIME SERIES 1960 – 2007. Grant ISFEM-1109, Fundación de Investigación, Formación y Estudios de la Mujer (ISFEM), Santiago, Chile. Amount: CLP$ 10.000.000 (US$ 19,230.00) (Nov 2009 - Jan 2010 Completed)
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“STUDY OF CARDIOVASCULAR OUTCOMES, GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE POPULATION AND EVALUATION OF NEW BEHAVIORAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTORS (PSF-II QUESTIONNAIRES) IN COHORT OF SAN FRANCISCO DE MOSTAZAL”. Fundación Araucaria, Grant FA032008, San Diego, CA. Amount: US$19,822.22 (Oct 2010 - April 2010 Completed)
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“SAN FRANCISCO PROJECT. FOLLOW-UP OF ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY AND CARDIOVASCULR OUTCOMES” Fundación Araucaria, Grant FA052005 y FA122006 San Diego, CA. EUA; Grant complementario Fundación de Cardiología de Chile 2005. Amount: US$ 18,000.00 (May 2005 - May 2007 Completed)
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“SAN FRANCISCO PROJECT: BASELINE OF A COHORT OF CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS” KELLOGG, W.K. FOUNDATION, UNI-KELLOGG Chile. Amount: US$ 5,000 (1997 - 1999 Completed)
Board of Directors

Cristian Vargas, MD
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Doctor of Medicine from the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción and Bachelor of Arts in Bioethics from the Ateneo Regina Apostolorum in Rome. He has an extensive career in university teaching spanning more than 14 years, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in areas of health.
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In 2015, he received the Human Life Promoters Award from the Rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Dr. Ignacio Sánchez.
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Medical Deputy Director of MELISA Institute since August 2017. He leads areas such as clinical protocol execution, medical genetics and proteomics services.
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E-mail: cvargas@melisainstitute.org

Mauricio Hernández, MSc
Chief Laboratory Officer (CLO)
Biochemist and MSc in Microbiology. Mauricio received his bachelor’s and biochemistry degree in 2008 from the Universidad Austral de Chile. In addition, he received the MSc. degree in Microbiology in 2013 at the same house of studies.
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Mr. Hernández has been head of our proteogenomics laboratory since August 2018. Previously, he served as a biochemist in activities related to molecular biology and biomolecules purification at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the Universidad Austral de Chile in 2010. Also as a professor at the Universidad Santo Tomas in the city of Valdivia, Head of subjects in the areas of Chemistry and Microbiology to careers related to the area of health, between 2011 and 2012. He then served as head of the proteomics laboratory of the AUSTRAL center at the Universidad Austral de Chile for 6 years, additionally as professor of proteomics to undergraduate and postgraduate courses in that study house.
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Among its activities are the realization of services of protein purification, mass spectrometry, peptide synthesis, among other proteomic services, both to national and international institutions.
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E-mail: mhernandez@melisainstitute.org

Doctor of Medicine from the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Postgraduate in Obstetrics and Gynecology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Master's Degree in Orientation and Family Mediation from the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca. Expert in natural methods of fertility regulation from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma.
Ten years of experience in the clinical area of ​​obstetrics and gynecology, especially in natural fertility.
Currently developing the area of ​​Medical Affairs and Clinical Trials at MELISA Institute.
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E-mail: jstecher@melisainstitute.org
Juan Francisco Stecher, MD
Chief Medical Officer (CMO)