In late 2012, the Center for Aging and Regeneration (CARE Chile UC) and the Vice Presidency for Research and Graduate Studies at Universidad de Magallanes (UMAG), signed a collaboration agreement to create the Center of Excellence of Biomedicine in Magallanes (CEBIMA). Its aim is to identify potential treatments for neurodegenerative and chronic diseases. This is a unique opportunity for development in Patagonia.
The region has one of the highest national levels of population ageing and the highest rates of pathologies like cancer and diabetes. One of CEBIMAʼs main objectives is to analyze the natural resources of the area to identify and extract pure compounds that have potentially medicinal effects in ageing processes and cellular regeneration in relation to pathologies such as, among others, Alzheimerʼs, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. Research at
CEBIMA will facilitate the creation of drugs based on botanical products and natural compounds with Magallanesʼ unique climate and vegetation, which will make them potentially less toxic and invasive than those created from artificially synthesized molecules.
CEBIMA will be located in a building adjacent to the Punta Arenas Hospital in the Magallanes Region. Its laboratories will have cutting-edge research instruments and equipment.
