The Leprosy Laboratory (LAHAN) of the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC/Fiocruz) has been operating since 1992 in training human resources and generating knowledge about leprosy and other mycobacteriosis, promoting integration between the areas of research and assistance. 

Aligned with the goals of the Ministry of Health, the Laboratory is part of the National Leprosy Control Program of the government department and is responsible for the Souza Araújo Ambulatory, providing reference activities (such as diagnosis and treatment) for the Unified Health System (SUS). 

LAHAN is dedicated to the expansion of clinical and epidemiological research in leprosy, focusing on the identification of risk factors for illness, the evaluation of therapeutic schemes and the presence of mutations related to resistance to the drugs used in the treatment. In addition, it acts in the clinical investigation of neurological lesions in the pathogenic mechanisms of peripheral neuropathy in leprosy. 

It is a national reference center with the Ministry of Health and part of the sentinel network of drug resistance to anti-leprosy drugs. Many of the results obtained by the Laboratory are incorporated by the Ministry, both with information that support new public policies and new products, including the NAT-HANS qPCR Kit, adopted by the National Commission for the Incorporation of Technologies in the Unified Health System (CONITEC ) for distribution at Public Health Central Laboratories (LACENs) in the SUS. 

Head of the Leprosy Laboratory 
Roberta Olmo Pinheiro (Curriculum lattes) 

Deputy Head of the Leprosy Laboratory 
Veronica Schmitz Pereira (Curriculum lattes)