The Leishmaniasis Research Laboratory (LPL) of the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC/Fiocruz) has been active since 1978 in research, teaching, training of human resources and scientific dissemination in leishmaniasis, including parasites and hosts, determinants for human and canine disease or in experimental models. 

It is a National Reference for Diagnosis and Identification of Leishmania (previously called the National Reference Laboratory for Leishmania Typing, having its name changed due to the need to adapt it to the current service provided). It also houses the Collection of Leishmania (CLIOC) Of the IOC, one of the main biological collections of the genus Leishmania in the world.

Among the scientific contributions of the LPL are the knowledge generated about the Leishmania-virus (LRV1), showing its relationship with disease aggravation and raising the question of LRV1-L co-evolution. (Viannia); the development of a qPCR assay to aid in the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis; and the large-scale description of the proteomes of the main species of L. (Viannia). 

In the context of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), the Laboratory has contributed to the understanding of the role of malnutrition in the worsening of VL and, through genomic analyzes of L. infantum, the adaptive, dispersal and structuring processes of these parasites in the Americas were evidenced. 

Scientific collaborations with national and foreign groups have been part of the organization of the LPL since its formation and revert to the services provided to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), in the surveillance and control of leishmaniasis. 

Head of the Leishmaniasis Research Laboratory
Elisa Cupolillo (Curriculum lattes) 

Deputy Head of the Leishmaniasis Research Laboratory 
Patricia Cuervo Escobar (Curriculum lattes)