Sanchez, Gloria

Gloria Sanchez, Ph.D., is a Full Professor affiliated to the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology in the School of Medicine and to the division of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health at the University of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia., where she also directs the Infection and Cancer Research Group

She holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology (2000) from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at The Johns Hopkins University, where she conducted her doctoral research on vaccine development through a WHO/TDR fellowship. Dr. Sanchez completed postdoctoral training in cervical and head and neck cancer epidemiology at the Catalan Institute of Oncology and the University of Michigan in 2006. Her research is a vital contribution to translational medicine and implementation science, focusing on evidence-based interventions to prevent cervical and breast cancer in Latin America’s low-resource settings. She led large international epidemiological studies on high-risk HPV types that were instrumental in shaping global policy for the introduction of the HPV vaccine and HPV testing. Currently, her research group evaluates the clinical utility of HPV tests, seeks new molecular microRNAs-based biomarkers for risk stratification, and assesses HPV testing and HPV vaccine implementation within Colombian low resource settings.

For over 20 years, Dr. Sanchez has been a dedicated educator. She has served as a professor in the programs of Basic Biomedical Sciences and Epidemiology and the WHO/TDR-funded Master’s program in Implementation Research.  As a professor in implementation research and a liaison to several national health organizations, Dr. Sanchez has committed to communicating complex science to diverse audiences for public health action.

Her contributions have been recognized with “the honor of a life in research” award by the Mayor of the city of Medellin (2020) and her election as a member of the National (Colombia) Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences in 2018.