Sandra López-Vergès is senior health researcher and the head of the Department of Research in Virology and Biotechnology at Gorgas Memorial Institute of Health Studies in Panama, institute responsible for the country's molecular diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. She attended the Science Diplomacy leadership workshop organized in 2017 by AAAS, is a member of the Global Young Academy since 2018, and has worked in Panama's Science Diplomacy strategy with other researchers at National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation of Panama (SENACYT) and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A multidisciplinary group relates how scientists, diplomats, and decisionmakers in Panama have worked closely with international organizations and countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region to craft the country's COVID-19 response.