Dr Braulio Mark Valencia Arroyo

I was born in Cusco, Peru and completed my medical training at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH). My postgraduate studies, including a Master's in Control of Tropical and Infectious Diseases and Advanced medical training in Infectious diseases, were completed at The Institute of Tropical Medicine Alexander von Humboldt (IMTAvH), UPCH. During and after postgraduate training, I have performed as a clinical researcher at IMTAvH and lecturer of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at UPCH and diverse overseas institutions, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of California, Irvine, and Broward College. I have developed collaborative research with reputed institutions, including the University of Toronto, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Infectious Diseases Research Institute (IDRI), Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Tulane University, Duke University, and The University of Alabama at Birmingham. 

My medical and research background allowed me to obtain a four-year UNSW Scientia PhD scholarship in 2018 to study the host and pathogen immunogenetic determinants of severe acute viral infections. During my PhD journey, I have actively participated as a volunteer and paid lecturer in medical science pathology and phase 1 medicine courses. Thus, my broad research interest includes point-of-care diagnostics, clinical trials, vaccine clinical trials and Health Systems Implementation in Neglected Tropical Diseases, and medical teaching. From the basic and translational research perspective, I aim to understand the immunogenetic determinants of susceptibility and resistance to infectious diseases, particularly Hepatitis C, Dengue virus, Coxiella burnetii, and COVID-19 and also factors (mainly host genetic) driving the progression of post-infectious sequelae.