Ana Sanchez, PhD

Professor, Health Sciences

 

Ana Sanchez

905 688 5550 x4388
ana.sanchez@brocku.ca

My work focuses on conducting primary field and laboratory research on infectious diseases, mostly tropical parasitic infections such as soil-transmitted helminths, tapeworms, pediculosis, and some intestinal apicomplexa.

Additionally, I am interested in supporting capacity building and increasing research proficiencies in developing countries.

The synergies deriving from these two lines of work have led to my involvement with national and international organizations assisting in the prioritization of research and the fair implementation of research partnerships.

Research Interests

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Tropical Parasitology
  • Neglected Tropical Diseases
  • Global Health Research
  • Research Capacity Strengthening

Professional affiliations and accreditation/certification

  • Member of the Pan American Organization (PAHO)’s Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR)
  • Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, USA
  • Board Member, One Health Research Foundation (OHRF), Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts and Nevis
  • Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research
  • Parasitology Research Group of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras

Publications

  1. Pemberton J, Canales M, Fontecha G, «Matamoros G, Krolewiecki A & Sanchez A (2021). Infectious Diseases in Honduras: Lessons in Research Partnerships and Capacity Strengthening. Book Chapter In: Plamondon K & Bisung E (Eds) CCGHR Principles for Global Health Research. Forthcoming in late 2021 
  2. Malone C, Nevis I, Fernandez E & Sanchez AL (2021). A Rapid Review on the Efficacy and Safety of Pharmacological. Treatments for Chagas Disease. Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2021, 6(3), 128 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed6030128 
  3. Matamoros G., Sanchez A, Gabrie J, Juarez M, Ceballos L, Escalada A, Rodriguez C, Marti-Soler H, Rueda MM Canales M, Lanusse C, Cajal P, Alvarez L, Cimino RO, & Krolewiecki A (2021). Efficacy and safety of albendazole and high-dose ivermectin co-administration in school-aged children infected with Trichuris trichiura in Honduras: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Clinical Infectious Diseases. ciab365 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab365  
  4. Fontecha G, Sanchez A & Ortiz B (2021). Publication trends in neglected tropical diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean: a bibliometric analysis. Pathogens 10.3 (2021): 356. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10030356  
  5. Fontecha G & Sanchez A.L. (2021). What will Happen to Biomedical Research in Low-and-Middle Income Countries in the PostCOVID-19 World? Current Tropical Medicine Reports (January 4, 2021. Issue pending). DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40475-020-00223-0
  6. Wang, G.A., Xie, X., Mansour, H Chen F, Matamoros G, Sanchez AL, Fan C, Li F (2020). Expanding detection windows for discriminating single nucleotide variants using rationally designed DNA equalizer probes. Nature Communications 11, 5473 (2020).DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19269-9
  7. Kamencic B, Ripplinger C, Acharibasam JW, Premkumar K, D’Eon M, & Sanchez A (2020). Evaluating the use of media on perceptions and behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic Canadian Medical Education Journal (CMEJ) 11(6): e199–e200. DOI:10.36834/cmej.70278 
  8. Hernández S, Gabrie JA, Rodríguez CA, Matamoros M, Rueda MM, Canales M, Mergl R, & Sanchez A (2020). An integrated study of Toxocara infection in Honduras: human seroepidemiology and environmental contamination in a coastal community.Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2020, 5(3), 135 DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed5030135
  9. Escobar D, Ascencio K, Andrés Ortiz A, Palma A, Sánchez A, & Fontecha G (2020). Blood meal sources of Anopheles spp. in malaria endemic areas of Honduras. Insects 2020, 11(7) 450. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11070450
  10. Larkin K, Rodríguez C, Jamani S, Fronza G, Roca-Acevedo G, Sanchez A, & Toloza A (2020). First evidence of the pyrethroid resistance substitution (T917I) in head lice (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae) from Honduras. Parasites Vectors 13, 312 (2020). DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-04183-2
  11. Dong T; Mansour H; Hu H; Wang, G Watson, C Yousef; Matamoros G; Sanchez A; MacNeil A; Wu P & Li F (2020). Colorimetric Polymerase Chain Reaction Enabled by a Fast Light-Activated Substrate chromogenic (FLASH) Detection Platform. Analytical Chemistry 92.9 (2020): 6456-6461. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.9b05591
  12. Fox K, Larkin K & Sanchez A (2020). Global Trends in Genetic Markers of Pediculus humanus capitis Resistance Mechanisms. Current Tropical Medicine Reports, 15 May 2020 DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40475-020-00204-3
  13. Naceanceno K, Matamoros G, Gabrie JA, Bottazzi, Sanchez A & Mejía R (2020). Use of multi-parallel real-time quantitative PCR to determine Blastocystis prevalence and association with other gastrointestinal parasite infection in a rural Honduran location. Am J of Trop Med and Hygiene 102(6): 1373-1375 DOI:https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.19-0876
  14. Palma A, Matamoros G, Escobar D, Sánchez AL, & Fontecha G (2020). Absence of mutations associated with resistance to benzimidazole in the beta-tubulin gene of Ascaris suum. Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical. 2020;53. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0155-2019
  15. Matamoros G, Rueda MM, G, Rodríguez C, Gabrie JA, Canales M, Fontecha G, & Sanchez A (2020). High endemicity of STH in a population frequently exposed to albendazole but no evidence of antiparasitic resistance. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 2019 Jun;4(2):73. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed4020073
  16. Jamani S, Rodríguez C, Rueda MM, Matamoros G, Canales M, Bearman G, Stevens M & Sanchez A (2020). Head lice infestations in rural Honduras: the need for an integrated approach to control neglected tropical diseases. International Journal of Dermatology 58(5):548-556. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.14331
  17. Palma A, Ortiz B, Mendoza L, Matamoros G, Gabrie JA, Sanchez AL, & Fontecha G (2019). Molecular analysis of human- and pig- derived Ascaris in Honduras. Journal of Helminthology. 2019 Mar;93(2):154-158. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022149X18000160
  18. Wang AG, Dong T, Mansour H, Matamoros G, Sanchez AL & Li F (2018). Paper-based molecular diagnostic device for visualized quantification of soil-transmitted helminth infection. ACS Sensors 2018, 3, 1, 205–210 DOI:10.1021/acssensors.7b00857
  19. Sturrock S; Yiannakoulias N & Sanchez AL (2017). The Geography and Scale of Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections. Current Tropical Medicine Reports 2017 Dec 1;4(4):245-55. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40475-017-0126-2
  20. Matamoros G, Schultz J, Fontecha GF & Sanchez AL (2017). [Persistent prevalence of infections by soil-transmitted helminths in Honduras: poverty, low efficacy of treatment and potential emergence of parasitic resistance]. Revista Investigación Clínica (Venezuela) 58(4):393-405. Article in Spanish. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/3729/372953984007.pdf
  21. Gabrie JA, Rueda MM, Rodríguez C, Canales M, & Sanchez AL (2016). Immune profile of Honduran schoolchildren with intestinal parasites: the skewed response against geohelminths. Journal of Parasitology Research, 2016. Volume 2016, Article ID 1769585. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1769585
  22. Sanchez AL, Gabrie JA, Canales M, Rueda MM, Fontecha GA, Mason P, Bearman G, & Stevens M (2016). Soil-transmitted helminths, poverty and malnutrition in Honduran children living in remote rural communities. Human Parasitic Diseases 2016:8 27-35 (journal is no longer active). DOI: 10.4137/HPD.S33458
  23. Zúñiga MA, Mejía RE, Sanchez AL, Sosa WH, & Fontecha GA (2015). Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency among malaria patients of Honduras: a descriptive study of archival blood samples. Malaria Journal. Malaria journal 14, no. 1 (2015): 308. http://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12936-015-0823-z 
  24. Sanchez AL, Mahoney D & Gabrie JA (2015). Interleukin-10 and soil-transmitted helminth infections in Honduran children.BMC Research Notes 2015, 8:55 2015. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-015-1019-x
  25. Fontecha GA, Garcia K, Rueda MM, Sosa-Ochoa W, Sanchez AL, & Leiva B (2015). A PCR-RFLP method for the simultaneous differentiation of three Entamoeba Experimental Parasitology, 2015. DOI:10.1016/j.exppara.2015.02.003
  26. Gabrie JA, Rueda, MM, Canales M, Gyorkos TW & Sanchez AL (2014). School hygiene and deworming are key protective factors for reduced transmission of soil-transmitted helminths among schoolchildren in Honduras. Parasites & vectors, 7(1), 354 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-354
  27. Narushima M & Sanchez AL (2014). Employers’ paradoxical views about temporary foreign migrant workers’ health: a qualitative study in rural farms in Southern Ontario. International Journal for Equity in Health 13.1 (2014): 65. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-014-0065-7
  28. Fontecha GA, Sanchez AL, Mendoza M, Banegas E & Mejía-Torres RE (2014). A four-year surveillance program for detection of Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance in Honduras. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (Brazil). Vol. 109(4): 492-493. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0074-0276140067
  29. Sanchez AL, Gabrie JA, Rueda MM, Mejía RE, Bottazzi ME & Canales M (2014). A scoping review and prevalence analysis of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Honduras. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 8(1): e2653. DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002653 

Teaching

  • Medical Microbiology
  • Tropical Parasites of Humans and Animals
  • Global Issues in Infectious Diseases

Academic Distinctions & Awards

Brock University Award for Open Access (2019)

Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Teaching award for Excellence in Teaching. Brock University (2006)