An Upstate student and an instructor — Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero and Christina Lupone, MPH — were recognized for their involvement in research on infectious diseases. Both were awarded for their work at the International Center of Syracuse‘s annual dinner, held on November 13 at Upstate‘s Institute for Human Performance.

Barbachano-Guerrero is studying the origin and development of dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease, and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus. A doctoral student in microbiology and immunology, Barbachano-Guerrero works in the Upstate labs of Timothy Endy, MD, MPH, and Christine King, PhD, both of whom lead research teams on dengue in the Far East and South America. Prior to Upstate, Barbachano-Guerrero researched infectious diseases in a laboratory of the Mexico City Health Ministry and taught college students in the Mexican National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City. He has published in a journal of the American Society for Microbiology and other scientific publications.

Lupone recruits students for ongoing global health research projects and medical internships. Currently, she is recruiting students for ongoing dengue projects in Ecuador led by Upstate‘s Anna Stewart Ibarra, PhD. Students will likely spend two months this summer in Ecuador, dividing their time between taking a cultural and language immersion course in medical Spanish and doing research on how to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases.

Lupone is also recruiting students for short-term medical missions and placements in Nicaragua, in collaboration with the Center for Civic Engagement. She is director of global health education for Upstate‘s Center for Global Health and Translational Science and an adjunct instructor in public health and preventive medicine. Lupone has a master‘s degree in public health from the Central New York Master of Public Health program, a joint project of SUNY Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University.