Objectives

• To contribute to the solution of the poisoning problem for poisoning animals in Costa Rica and other countries, as well as national scientific and technological development, through a group effort involving research, teaching, social action, and production activities.

Main functions

• To coordinate and provide undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Costa Rica to train and educate professionals through teaching Immunology, Herpetology, Biochemistry, and Statistics.
• Contribute to the scientific and humanistic training of undergraduate and graduate by developing thesis for the preparation of professionals.
• To carry out scientific and applied research in the fields of Biology and Toxinology of poisonous animals and micro-organisms that produce toxins and in other areas of biomedical and biotechnological research related to the mission of the Institute.
• Community outreach: to train and inform various groups of the population about the ophidian accident, its treatment and prevention, as well as other subjects related to the mission of the Institute through seminars, talks and workshops.
• To keep Trabajo Comunal Universitario (University Community Service) project within the social action program, teaching about prevention of snake accident to more susceptible populations.
• To produce the therapeutic antivenoms required by Costa Rica to treat patients suffering from poisoning by snake bite.
• To contribute to the solution of the problem of poisoning by snake bite in other countries through the production and distribution of therapeutic antivenom.

Remunerated

• Sale of antiophidic serums.
• Sale of services of proteomics.
• Training in topics related to the snake accident

Non Remunerated

• Conferences to professionals of the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS, for its acronym in Spanish) (Costa Rican Social Security Administration)
• Talks of Trabajo Comunal Universitario (University Community Service)