CAMPUS MÉDICO SAN JOSÉ
In 2002, Fundación Rozas-Botrán bought a piece of land at
Km. 28.5 on the road to Bárcenas, Santa Lucía Milpas Altas, in
Sacatepéquez, to provide decent care for the most vulnerable.
The site was there, but funds were scarce.

developed afterwards with other universities, aiming to achieve
one of the objectives of INVEGEM about providing specialized
training to count with leaders in the fields of health and research
ensuring thereby the attainment of a better quality life for the
Central American and Panamanian population.

In order to accomplish the construction of an appropriate hospital,
the Foundation, supported by Luz María de Perera, organised,
with great success, two editions of La Cena del Millón, and
collected the initial funds that were then increased with sponsorship
from the private sector. Soon after, the construction of Hospital
Hospicio San José started and became the first institution in
Central America that provides integral care for newborns, children
and adults living with HIV/AIDS.

However, there was no building with the necessary space and
equipment for scientific research, so Jose decided to start a crusade
to respond to the need for an institute conveniently located and
equipped for genetic research. Thus, Fundación Rozas-Botrán
donated the land, and the construction of the premises counted
with the valuable contribution of Luis Miguel Delgado.

Upon the completion of this project, Jose was already interested
in a new plan, this time, in the fields of scientific research. This
idea was conceived during his volunteering work at Obras
Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro, when he knew about the
health campaigns held at the rural areas by the genetics clinic
of Faith in Practice, from Houston, Texas. Said campaigns were
coordinated by Joe and Vera Wyatt; Doctors Mitlaschell Golbus,
from the University of San Francisco, California; John Belmont,
Professor from the Department of Human Genetics, at Baylor
College of Medicine, Texas; and Ralph Fingerhut, Ph, from the
Children Hospital of Munich, Germany.
The genetics clinic programme expanded then to clinical and
lab diagnoses with the creation of the Cytogenetics Laboratory
GENLAB, at UNICAR headquarters, with the participation of
Gabriel Silva, MD and Aldo Castañeda, MD. This was one of the
seeds of the medical genetics era led at the School of Medical
Sciences of Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala [state
university] by Julio Cabrera, MD, first Guatemalan Geneticist, and
which was then strengthened with the return to Guatemala of
Claudia Carranza PhD with specialization on Human Genetics and
Cancer, granted by Universidad de Navarra, and the incorporation
of Mustafa Tekin, PhD and Iris Menéndez, MD, both from the
University of Miami, Florida.
Afterwards, jointly with Universidad Francisco Marroquín, the first
Master Degree on Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, with
an regional vision, was developed. Other alliances have been

In synthesis, Fundación provided the infrastructure, interior
design, finishings, furniture, and equipment, and the necessary
scientific material. It also took responsibility over ensuring the
sustainability of the scientific and administrative staff and annual
maintenance of the new Instituto de Investigación Genética y
Metabólica, known as INVEGEM.
ART AND LIFE ARE LINKED IN SOLIDARITY
Along with an unconditional devotion to health and education-forhealth projects, Fundación Rozas-Botrán has kept its enthusiasm
and interest about art and culture, bearing on mind that while
the direct objective of art is not to heal, it does help to humanize
the healing processes, and contexts where these take place.
Between the late 20th to early 21st centuries, Fundación RozasBotrán has permeated the context of Guatemala City with the
following art events:
Arte en Mayo
Fundación Rozas-Botrán promotes the event Arte en Mayo
as part of a series of activities focused on benefiting the most
vulnerable sectors. For this purpose, it has established an
alliance with visual artists from Central America, Panama, and
other countries, who converge in a bonding of solidarity.
The value of solidarity shown by these artists brings them close
to human and social realities of the needy, recognizing their
needs with a sense of fraternity. These art creators make a
social contribution of a fifty percent of the value of their piece
of art for the scientific research conducted by the Instituto de
Investigación en Genética Humana.
www.fundacionrozasbotran.org

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