UPENN- Tulane- UPCH Zoonotic Disease Research Lab Center

The UPENN-UPCH Zoonotic Disease Research Center (ZDRC), located in the center of Arequipa, Peru is dedicated to the rigorous investigation of zoonotic disease in an urban landscape.

Originally created through an NIAID-funded Tropical Medicine Research Center award in 2004, the ZDRC  employs 25 full-time staff including biologists, epidemiologists, veterinarians, health communicators, nurses and data managers.

The ZDRC houses a wet lab, a computer/GIS ‘dry lab,’ animal facilities and an insectary. The center has longstanding agreements with the Ministry of Health of Arequipa to conduct zoonotic disease research in the city, allowing for the rare opportunity to carry out long term, hands-on investigations of zoonotic diseases as they occur in real time.