To better understand infections that might spread to the United States, researchers at UTMB are collaborating with the U.S. Navy and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia at Lima, Peru, to study infectious diseases in Cusco, Peru. As the home of the former Inca Empire and the closest city to Machu Picchu, Cusco has been declared a World Heritage Site and is a major hub for tourism. With millions of visitors each year, Cusco is an ideal place to study diseases affecting travelers. “A major goal of the UPCH-UTMB Collaborative Research Center — Cusco is to study infectious diseases and illnesses that have been neglected by the research community,” said Dr. Clinton White, director of the Infectious Diseases Division at UTMB.