Líneas de investigación o especialidades:
Malaria, bioprospección, Trypanosoma cruzi (Mal de Chagas), Leishmania spp, Plasmodium falciparum, biofísica, actividad anticancerígena de moléculas, receptores de invasión para P. falciparum en el eritrocito humano, comunicación intracelular, exovesículas, microondas.
Resumen del currículum:
Egresada de la Facultad de Química de la Universidad de Eastern Michigan, USA en 1984. En 1997 se sumó al Laboratorio de Farmacología Molecular y Bioquímica de los Doctores Santiago Castanys y Francisco Gamarro Conde en el Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina “López-Neyra” del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas en Granada, España, donde recibió el grado de Doctora en Bioquímica de parte de la Universidad de Granada en el 2002 con su trabajo en la identificación y caracterización de dos caseína quinasas del parásito causante del Mal de Chagas o Trypanosomiasis Americana. Después de una charla en el Instituto Pasteur de París, el Prof. Debopam Chakrabarti le ofrece trabajo postdoctoral en la Universidad Central de Florida en Orlando, USA donde estudia las proteínas kinasas reguladoras del ciclo celular del parásito causante de la malaria, P. falciparum. Después de un año en esta posición acepta la invitación del Dr. José A. Stoute para colaborar en la búsqueda del receptor X de invasión de P. falciparum en el eritrocito humano. Juntos trabajaron en este proyecto desde el Walter Reed Army Institute of Research en Silver Spring, Maryland y la Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences en Bethesda, Maryland. En el 2008 regresa a Panamá a dirigir el Proyecto de Bioensayos antiparasitarios y anticancerígenos de los grupos ICBG Panamá (International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups) de productos naturales, junto con colaboradores panameños e internacionales. Ese mismo año consigue un subsidio de Fase 1 de los Proyectos “Exploration” de la Fundación Bill y Melinda Gates junto con Stoute para estudiar un tratamiento alternativo contra la malaria. Con los resultados conseguidos, este proyecto recibió el subsidio de Fase II por $1 M en el 2011, siendo el primero de Latino América dentro de esta cartera. Desde el 2010 es encargada del Centro de Biología Celular y Molecular de Enfermedades (CBCMe). En el 2011 fue incluída dentro del Sistema Nacional de Investigación de Panamá (SNI). En el 2012 se le otorga la admisión en la Asociación de Farmacia y Biotecnología de la India. En el 2014 recibe su inclusión como Investigadora Distinguida del SNI. Ese mismo año, recibe el premio a la Excelencia en la Investigación que otorga APANAC y SENACYT a carreras meritorias. Ha ganado subsidios nacionales e internacionales y su equipo lo conforman tres técnicos, tres estudiantes de doctorado, cuatro estudiantes de pregrado, uno de maestría y una investigadora postdoctoral. Sus intereses de investigación se enfocan en la malaria, el descubrimiento de drogas y la biofísica de los patógenos, campo en el que ha consolidado colaboraciones con investigadores de la Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá.
Sitio Web: http://carmenzaspadafora.net/
Publicaciones Seleccionadas:
19-hydroxy-bufalin, a major bufadienolide isolated from the parotoid gland secretions of the Panamanian endemic toad Rhinella centralis (Bufonidae), inhibits the growth of Trypanosoma cruzi.Candelario Rodriguez, Armando Durant, Roberto Ibañez, Michelle Ng, Carmenza Spadafora, Marcelino Gutierrez. Toxicon 177 (2020) 89–92. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2020.02.009.
Access and Benefit Sharing under the Nagoya Protocol – Quo vadis? Six Latin American case studies assessing opportunities and risk.Michael Heinrich, Francesca Scotti, Adolfo Andrade-Cetto, Monica Berger-Gonzalez, Javier Echeverría, Fabio Friso, Felipe Garcia-Cardona, Alan Hesketh, Martin Hitziger, Caroline Maake, Matteo Politi, Carmenza Spadafora and Rita Spadafora. Frontiers in Pharmacology 11, 765, 2020.
Additional anti-leishmanial constituents of the Panamanian Endophytic fungus Edenia sp. Martínez-Luis S; Cherigo, L; Spadafora, C;, Gerwick, WH.; and Cubillas-Rios, L Rev. Latinoamer. Quím. (2009) 37, (2), 104-114.
Analysis of the antiparasitic and anticancer activity of the Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera L. ARECACEAE) from the Natural Reserve of Punta Patiño, Darién. Nicole Tayler Sucre, Cristopher A. Boya, Liuris Herrera, Jamie Moy, Michelle Ng, Laura Pineda, Alejandro Almanza, Sara Rosero, Lorena Coronado, Ricardo Correa, Ricardo Santamaría, Zuleima Caballero, Armando A. Durant-Archibold, Kevin J. Tidgewell, Marcy J. Balunas, William H. Gerwick, Alida Spadafora, Marcelino Gutiérrez, Carmenza Spadafora. PLOS ONE 2019 Apr 2;14(4):e0214193
Antimalarial activity and metabolic profiling by HS-SPME-GC-MS of Plinia cerrocampanensis leaf essential oil. Armando A Durant, Candelario Rodriguez, Liuris Herrera, Alejandro Almanza, Ana I Santana, Carmenza Spadafora and Mahabir P Gupta. Malaria J 01/2014; 13(1):18 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-13-18
Antiparasitic Compounds from the Panamanian Marine Bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Sergio Martínez-Luis, Lilia Cherigo, Carmenza Spadafora and Marcelino Gutiérrez. Natural Product Communication 14 (1), 31-32. 2019. doi: 10.1177/1934578X1901400109
Antiparasitic and anticancer constituents of the endophytic fungus Aspergillus sp. strain F1544. Martínez-Luis S, Cherigo L, Arnold E, Spadafora C, Gerwick WH, Cubilla-Rios L. Natural product communications. 02/2012; 7(2):165-8.
Antiplasmodial activity from leaves of Cocos nucifera in Plasmodium berghei infected mice. Nicole M. Tayler, Rosa De Jesús de Durán, Rita Spadafora, Lorena M. Coronado, Carmenza Spadafora. J Parasit Dis 44, 305–313 (2020).
Antitrypanosomal Alkaloids from the marine bacterium Bacillus pumilu. Sergio Martínez-Luis, José Félix Gómez, Carmenza Spadafora, Héctor M. Guzmán, Marcelino Gutiérrez, Molecules, 2012 Sep 18;17(9):11146-55.
Apparatus for the treatment of Malaria. Patent application number (UK) GB1902634.3 Filing date: Feb 27, 2019. Spadafora C. and Penn State University.
Automated Synchronization of P. falciparum using a Temperature Cycling Incubator (TCI). Alejandro Almanza, A., Coronado, L., Tayler, N., Herrera, L. and Spadafora, C. Curr Trends Biotech Pharmacol (2011) Vol 5 (2):1130-133
Bastimolide A, a Potent Antimalarial Polyhydroxy Macrolide from the Marine Cyanobacterium Okeania hirsuta. Shao CL, Linington RG, Balunas MJ, Centeno A, Boudreau P, Zhang C, Engene N, Spadafora C, Mutka TS, Kyle DE, Gerwick L, Wang CY, Gerwick WH. J Org Chem. 2015 Aug 21;80(16):7849-55
Bastimolide B, An Antimalarial 24-Membered Marine Macrolide Possessing a tert-Butyl Group. Chang-Lun Shao; Xiao-Feng Mou; Fei Cao; Carmenza Spadafora; Evgenia Glukhov; Lena Gerwick; Chang-Yun Wang; William Gerwick. J Nat Prod. 2018 81(1):211-215.
Bioactivity of fungal endophytes as a function of endophyte taxonomy and the taxonomy and distribution of their host plants. Higginbotham SJ, Arnold AE, Ibañez A, Spadafora C, Coley PD, Kursar, TA (2013). PLoS ONE 8(9): e73192. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073192
Blood stage Plasmodium falciparum Exhibits Biological Responses to Direct Current Electric Fields. Coronado LM, Montealegre S, Chaverra Z, Mojica L, Espinosa C, Almanza A, Correa R, Stoute JA, Gittens RA, Spadafora C. PLoS One. 2016 Aug 18;11(8):e0161207. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161207. eCollection 2016
Bufadienolides from the skin secretions of the Neotropical toad Rhinella alata (Anura: Bufonidae): antiprotozoal activity against Trypanosoma cruzi. Candelario Rodriguez, Roberto Ibáñez, Luis Mojica, Michelle NG, Carmenza Spadafora, Armando A. Durant-Archibold, Marcelino Gutiérrez. (2021) Molecules, 26 (14), 4217.
Chemical and bioactive natural products from Microthyriaceae sp., an endophytic fungus from a tropical grass. Celso Almeida, Humberto Ortega, Sarah Higginbotham, Carmenza Spadafora, A. Elizabeth Arnold, Phyllis D. Coley, Kursar Thomas A, William H. Gerwick and Luis Cubilla-Rios. Letters of Applied Microbiology 10 MAR 2014 03:29AM EST | DOI: 10.1111/lam.12245
Chemical constituents from the new endophytic fungus Mycosphaerella sp. nov. and their anti-parasitic activity. Moreno, E., Varughese, T., Spadafora, C., Arnold, AE, Coley, PD, Kursar, TA, Gerwick, WH and Cubilla-Rios, L. Natural Product Communications, (2011) Vol. 6(6):835-840
Coibacins A-D, Antileishmanial Marine Cyanobacterial Polyketides with Intriguing Biosynthetic Origins. Balunas MJ, Grosso MF, Villa FA, Engene N, McPhail KL, Tidgewell K, Pineda LM, Gerwick L, Spadafora C, Kyle DE, Gerwick WH. Org Lett. 2012 Aug 3;14(15):3878-3881
Coibanoles, a new class of meroterpenoids produced by Pycnoporus sanguineus. Eunice Molinar, Nivia Rios, Carmenza Spadafora, A. Elizabeth Arnold, Phyllis D. Coley, Thomas A. Kursar, William H. Gerwick, Luis Cubilla-Rios Tetrahedron Letters Volume 53, Issue 8, 22 February 2012, Pages 919–922
Comparison of the in vitro invasive capabilities of Plasmodium falciparum 7G8 schizonts isolated by Percoll gradient or using magnetic based separation. Spadafora, C., Gerena, L. and Kopydlowski, KM. (2011) Malaria Journal 2011, 10:96 (18 April 2011)
Complement Receptor 1 Is a Sialic Acid-Independent Erythrocyte Receptor of Plasmodium falciparum. Spadafora, C., Awandare, G., Kopydlowski, K., Czege, J,, Moch, JK., Finberg, RW, Tsokos, G., Stoute, JA. (2010) PLoS Pathog Jun 17;6(6):e1000968
Credneramides A and B: Neuromodulatory Phenethylamine and Isopentylamine Derivatives of a Vinyl Chloride-Containing Fatty Acid from cf. Trichodesmium sp. nov. Malloy KL, Suyama TL, Engene N, Debonsi H, Cao Z, Matainaho T, Spadafora C, Murray TF, Gerwick WH. J Nat Prod. 2012 Jan 27;75(1):60-6
Cytotoxic Veraguamides, Alkynyl Bromide-containing cyclic Depsipeptides from the marine Cyanobacterium cf. Osciallatoria margaritifera. Emily Mevers,Wei-Ting Liu, Niclas Engene, Hosein Mohimani, Tara Byrum, Pavel A. Pevzner, Pieter C. Dorrestein, Carmenza Spadafora, and William H. Gerwick. (2011) J Nat Prod. (2011) 74(5):928-36.
Discovery and Synthesis of Caracolamide A, an Ion Channel Modulating Dichlorovinylidene Containing Phenethylamide from a Panamanian Marine Cyanobacterium cf. Symploca Species. Naman CB, Almaliti J, Armstrong L, Caro-Díaz EJ, Pierce ML, Glukhov E, Fenner A, Spadafora C, Debonsi HM, Dorrestein PC, Murray TF, Gerwick WH. J Nat Prod. 2017, 80(8):2328-2334.
Discovery, Semisynthesis, Antiparasitic and Cytotoxic Evaluation of 14-Membered Resorcylic Acid Lactones and Their Derivatives. Xue-Qing Zhang, Carmenza Spadafora, Laura M. Pineda, Michelle Ng W., Ji-Hong Sun, Wei Wang, Changyun Wang, Yucheng Gu. Scientific Reports 2017 Sep 18;7(1):11822
Dudalawamides A-D, Antiparasitic clyclic depsipeptides from the marine cyanobacterium Moorea producens. J Almaliti, KL Malloy, E Glukhov, C Spadafora, M Gutiérrez, WH Gerwick. Journal of Natural Products. 2017 Jun 23;80(6):1827-1836
Evaluation of antiparasitic, anticancer, antimicrobial and hypoglycemic properties of organic extracts from Panamanian Mangrove Plants. Dioxelis Lopez, Carmenza Spadafora, Lilia Cherigo, Alejandro de Sedas, Sergio Martinez. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine. 2018, 11(1):32.
Evaluation of the in vitro and in vivo anti plasmodial effect of water treated with Photonic Multiphase Modulators (PMM) designed with Advanced Physics System Engineering (APSE™) and BioPhoton-X™ technology. Rosa Coromoto De Jesús, Rocío Izos, Laura Pineda, Julio Lavergne, Victor De Franco Levi, Lorena Coronado, Carmenza Spadafora. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, B: Biology. Volume 223, October 2021, 112283.
Evaluation of phytotoxic, cytotoxic and antiparasitic in vitro activities of Borreria verticillata, a weed of Panamanian coffee crops. L Cherigo, J Lezcano, C Spadafora, Sergio Martínez-Luis. Bioscience Research, 2012 9(2):82-86
Extracellular vesicles carrying lactate dehydrogenase induce suicide in increased population density of Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. Ricardo Correa M, Lorena M Coronado, Zuleima Caballero, Paula Faral, Carlos Robello and Carmenza Spadafora. Scientific Reports 2019 Mar 25;9(1):5042. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-41697-x.
Extracellular vesicles carrying lactate dehydrogenase induce suicide in increased population density of Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. Ricardo Correa M, Lorena M Coronado, Zuleima Caballero, Paula Faral, Carlos Robello and Carmenza Spadafora. Scientific Reports9, Article number: 5042 (2019).
Extracellular vesicles could carry an evolutionary footprint in interkingdom communication. Ricardo Correa, Zuleima Caballero, Luis Fernando De León and Carmenza Spadafora. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020 Mar 3;10:76. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00076. eCollection 2020.
In vitro and in vivo experimental models in drug screening and development for Chagas disease. Romanha AJ, Castro SL, Soeiro Mde N, Lannes-Vieira J, Ribeiro I, Talvani A, Bourdin B, Blum B, Olivieri B, Zani C, Spadafora C,, Chiari E, Chatelain E, Chaves G, Calzada JE, Bustamante JM, Freitas-Junior LH, Romero LI, Bahia MT, Lotrowska M, Soares M, Andrade SG, Armstrong T, Degrave W, Andrade Zde A.. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (2010) 105(2): 233-238.
Imaging mass spectrometry and MS/MS molecular networking reveals chemical interactions among cuticular bacteria and pathogenic fungi associated with fungus-growing ants. Cristopher A. Boya P, Hermógenes Fernández-Marín, Luis C. Mejía, Carmenza Spadafora, Pieter C. Dorrestein and Marcelino Gutiérrez. Scientific Reports. 2017 Jul 17;7(1):5604
Malarial hemozoin: from target to tool. Lorena M. Coronado, Christoper T. Nadovich, Carmenza Spadafora. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2014 Jun;1840(6):2032-41 doi: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2014.02.009
Marine cyanobacteria-derived serotonin receptor 2C active fraction induces psychoactive behavioral effects in mice. Neil C. Lax, Kh Tanvir Ahmed, Christopher M. Ignatz, Carmenza Spadafora, Benedict J. Kolber, and Kevin Tidgewell. Pharm Biol. 2016 May 14:1-9
Medusamida A, a Panamanian Cyanobacterial Depsipeptide with Multiple β-Amino Acids. Fenner AM, Engene N, Spadafora C, Gerwick WH, Balunas MJ. Org Lett. 2016 Feb 5;18(3):352-5. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.5b03110
Microwave Exposure System for In Vitro and In Vivo Studies. Nadovich, C T, W D Jemison, J A Stoute, and C Spadafora. 2014. COMSOL Proceedings, Boston
Phytochemical composition, antiparasitic and α-glucosidase inhibition activities from Pelliciera rhizophorae. López D, Cherigo L, Spadafora C, Loza-Mejía MA, Martínez-Luis S. Chem Cent J. 2015 Sep 28;9(1):53
Plasmodium berghei infected mice.Use of QBC F.A.S.T.TM Malaria Stain to quantify Plasmodium falciparum parasitemias by flow cytometry. Coronado L, Ramos M, Spadafora C. Curr Trends Biotech Pharm (Accepted)
Plasmodium falciparum field isolates use complement receptor 1 (CR1) as a receptor for invasion of erythrocytes. Awandare GA, Spadafora C, Moch JK, Dutta S, Haynes JD, Stoute JA. Mol Biochem Parasitol. (2011) 177(1):57-60
Pumilacidins from the Octocoral-Associated Bacillus sp. DT001 Display Anti-Proliferative Effects in Plasmodium falciparum. Torres-Mendoza D, Coronado LM, Pineda LM, Guzmán HM, Dorrestein PC, Spadafora C, Gutiérrez M. Molecules. 2018 Aug 29;23(9).
Randomized, Double-Blinded, Phase 2 Trial of WR 279,396 (Paromomycin and Gentamicin) for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Panama. Sosa N, Capitán Z, Nieto J, Nieto M, Calzada J, Paz H, Spadafora C, Kreishman-Deitrick M, Kopydlowski K, Ullman D, McCarthy WF, Ransom J, Berman J, Scott C, Grogl M. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2013 Sep;89(3):557-63. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.12-0736.
Revisión de Modelos Hiperelásticos utilizados en Tejidos. Moreno, Miguel; Plazaola, Carlos; González, Guadalupe; Zambrano, Mayteé and Spadafora, Carmenza (2018). KnE Engineering. 3. 100. 10.18502/keg.v3i1.1417.
Screening and evaluation of antiparasitic and in vitro anticancer activities of Panamanian endophytic fungi. Martínez-Luis S, Cherigo L, Higginbotham S, Arnold E, Spadafora C, Ibañez A, Gerwick WH, Cubilla-Rios L. Int Microbiol. 2011 Jun;14(2):95-102.
Semisynthesis, antiplasmodial activity, and mechanism of action studies of isocoumarin derivatives.Lorena Coronado, Xue-Qing Zhang, Doriana Dorta, Nerea Escala, Laura Pineda, Michelle Ng, Esther Del Olmo, Chang-Yun Wang, Yu-Cheng Gu, Chang-Lun Shao, Carmenza Spadafora. Journal of Natural Products May 21, (2021) 84, 5, 1434–1441.
Separation of Plasmodium falciparum Late Stage-infected Erythrocytes by Magnetic Means. Coronado, L. M., Tayler, N. M., Correa, R., Giovani, R. M., Spadafora, C. J. Vis. Exp. (73), e50342, doi:10.3791/50342 (2013)
Sloth fur as a novel source of fungi with potent anti-parasitic, anti-cancer and anti-bacterial bioactivity Sarah Higginbotham, Weng Ruh Wong, Roger G. Linington, Carmenza Spadafora, Liliana Iturrado, A. Elizabeth Arnold. PLoS One 2014 Jan 15;9(1):e84549. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084549
Structure Modification, Antidiatom, Antiplasmodial and Toxic Evaluations of a Series of New Marine-Derived 14-Membered Resorcylic Acid Lactone Derivatives. Wei-Feng Xu, Na-Na Wu, Yan-Wei Wu, Yue-Xuan Qi, Mei-Yan Wei, Laura M. Pineda, Michelle Ng,Carmenza Spadafora, Ji-Yong Zheng, Ling Lu, Chang-Yun Wang, Yu-Cheng Gu, Chang-Lun Shao. Marine Life Science & Technology (2021), 1-10.
Thermo-Energetic study in blood Infected with Plasmodium falciparum radiated at 2.45GHz. Ngo, K. D.; Plazaola, C.; González, G; Spadafora, C.; Zambrano, M. EuMC 2019, European Microwave Conference to be held from 1st to 3rd October 2019 in Paris, France (Engineering Paper Accepted)
Thermo-Energetic study in blood Infected with Plasmodium falciparum radiated at 2.45 GHz. Ngo, K. D.; Plazaola, C.; González, G; Spadafora, C.; Zambrano, M. EuMC 2019 pp. 276-279. doi:10.23919/EuMC.2019.8910930.
Two Casein Kinase 1 isoforms are differentially expressed in the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Spadafora, C., Repetto, Y., Torres, C., Pino, L., Robello, C., Espinoza, I., Galanti, N., Morello, A., Gamarro, F., and Castanys, S. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology (2002) 124/1-2:23-36.
Volatile organic compounds associated with Plasmodium falciparum infection in vitro. Ricardo Correa, Lorena M. Coronado, Anette C. Garrido, Armando A. Durant-Archibold and Carmenza Spadafora. Parasites and Vectors. 2017 May 2;10(1):215.

Dra. Carmenza Spadafora
Máximo grado de estudios: Doctorado, Universidad de Granada, España, 2002
Categoria: Investigador
Nivel Sistema Nacional del Investigación (SIN): Investigador Distinguido (2014), Investigador Nacional Nivel I (2011).
Contact information:
E-mail: carmenzaspadafora@gmail.com,
cspadafora@indicasat.org.pa
Teléfono: +507 517 0738, +507 517 0700.