El Malbrán celebrates 110 years of excellence amidst a historic renewal thanks to Milei's government

Turning 110 years old does not only mean celebrating a date. For those of us who are part of ANLIS Malbrán, it represents the opportunity to look back with pride, value the legacy built by generations of scientists, researchers, and workers, and at the same time, renew the commitment to the challenges posed by the health of the present and the future.

Since its creation on July 10, 1916, Malbrán has been present at important moments in Argentine health history. It was born with a pioneering vision driven by Dr. Carlos Gregorio Malbrán: to develop its own scientific capabilities so that the country could respond with knowledge, technology, and national production to health problems. More than a century later, that mission remains the same.

Throughout these 110 years, Malbrán has accompanied the development of modern microbiology, has been the stage for the work of key figures who marked the Argentine scientific trajectory, and has consolidated capabilities that today make it a national and regional reference center in research, diagnosis, epidemiological surveillance, production of biologicals, and training of human resources. But the strength of an institution is also measured by its ability to evolve.

The renewal at Malbrán under Milei's management

Today Malbrán is the result of a transformation process to respond to increasingly complex health challenges, in a context where diseases emerge and spread more rapidly and demand responses based on science, innovation, and technology.

In recent years, we have driven a technological modernization that has significantly strengthened our scientific potential. The commissioning of the first Level 4 Biosafety laboratory for human health in Latin America, the incorporation of state-of-the-art genomic sequencing platforms, technologies such as MALDI-TOF and the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, the development of bioinformatics tools, artificial intelligence, and new systems for pathogen surveillance position Malbrán today among the most advanced scientific institutions in the region.

The recent signing of the strategic agreement with Illumina, one of the world leaders in genomic technologies, represents a new step on that path. It will allow us to incorporate cutting-edge tools to expand our genomic surveillance capacity and strengthen the early detection of viruses and other pathogens of health importance.

Today, ANLIS Malbrán is the main scientific-technical reference body in the country for the prevention, diagnosis, surveillance, and research of infectious, genetic, and non-communicable diseases. We bring together institutes, national centers, and specialized operational units; we coordinate 31 national networks, 24 jurisdictional networks, and more than 1,400 institutions in Argentina; we produce strategic immunobiologicals such as the Candid #1 vaccine against Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever, BCG for intravesical use, and antivenom serums with national and international recognition.

We also lead the surveillance of priority diseases such as influenza, measles, tuberculosis, hantavirus, and other emerging pathologies. We coordinate national and regional quality control programs, the surveillance system for infections associated with healthcare, we are national references in medical genetics, and we promote the development of new diagnostic technologies.

At the same time, we train highly specialized human resources and maintain an intense scientific-technical cooperation with international organizations, including the CDC of the United States, strengthening research, innovation, and the national health system.

We are national and regional leaders in implementing strategies to mitigate antimicrobial resistance, one of the main threats to global health, and we coordinate quality control programs that bring together 464 Argentine laboratories and 31 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

We celebrate our history because it is the starting point for continuing to build the future. With the same conviction that inspired those who founded this institution more than a century ago, we renew every day the commitment that Malbrán continues to be a leader in research, scientific-technological innovation, and epidemiological surveillance, contributing to the Argentine scientific development and the protection of the health of all the inhabitants of our country.