UCL Research Related to Colombia

Urban mobility and poverty: Lessons from Medellín and Soacha, Colombia
Prof. Julio Davila et al. (UCL-UNAL)

"This book examines the experience of Medellín in seeking to reduce poverty and integrate large marginalised areas, marked by years of severe poverty and violence, into the urban fabric. It pays particular attention to the impact of two aerial cable-cars connecting high density hilly neighbourhoods with the rest of the city, and an associated urban upgrading programme. It also contrasts Medellín’s successful experience with that of Soacha, a municipality adjacent to Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city, where an aerial cable-car has been proposed as a means of linking two low-income hilly neighbourhoods with a main arterial road. The contrast between a well-resourced, well-managed municipality like Medellín with a dense and homogenously poor and institutionally weak municipality like Soacha offers valuable lessons to other cities in Latin America and elsewhere." Learn more

Spanish (Full version)

Population Genetics of American Continent
Prof Andres Ruiz-Linares (Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment) extensive research on population genetics in America includes several projects involving Colombian population. For instance, a genetic demography of Antioquia. "The remarkable history of this continent offers unique opportunities for examining fundamental question about human evolution and the genetic basis of human phenotypic variation." Learn more


Migration as a social determinant of dengue fever transmission in Colombia
Adriana Pacheco-Coral (PhD student) from Department of Epidemiology & Public Health.

"In Colombia as a consequence of internal armed conflict there are large groups of displaced populations; their health needs vary from malnutrition, infectious diseases and mental illnesses.

In this context, Colombia’s faces several problems regarding the health status of displaced populations. Despite the public health policies -which have tried to respond to this complex situation, the perpetuation of the migration process accentuates the incidence of health problems and, especially, infectious diseases such as dengue fever in Colombia. It seems that forced migration could affect the dynamic of infectious diseases transmission in host cities. The aim of this study is assessing the role of migration process in dengue’s transmission at endemic regions that are host cities for displaced population." Learn more

Child Development in Developing Countries
Prof. Orazio Atanassio studied how to improve early child development through the program "Madres Líderes" which is part of the broad intervention "Familias in Acción" in Colombia.
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Colombian guerrillas help UCL scientists locate literacy in the brain
Study funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science

"The unique study of former guerrillas in Colombia, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, enabled researchers to see how brain structure changed after learning to read.
(...)

The researchers found that for those participants who had learnt to read, the density of grey matter (where the 'processing' is done) was higher in several areas of the left hemisphere of the brain. As might be expected, these were the areas that are responsible for recognising letter shapes and translating the letters into speech sounds and their meanings. Reading also increased the strength of the 'white matter' connections between the different processing regions." Learn More