Evandro Chagas

Who was Evandro Chagas?

Evandro Serafim Lobo Chagas, was a Brazilian physician and biomedical scientist specializing in tropical medicine. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, the eldest son of Carlos Chagas, noted physician and scientist who discovered Chagas disease, and brother of Carlos Chagas Filho, also a noted physician and scientist who was president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

In 1926 Evandro Chagas got diploma from the Faculty of Medicine of Rio de Janeiro and made residence at Hospital São Francisco de Assis and at Hospital Oswaldo Cruz. At the same time, he attended the specialization course in microbiology at the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.

In 1930 he became professor at Clinical Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Faculty of Medicine of Rio de Janeiro, whose discipline was taught by his father, Carlos Chagas. To fill the vacancy, he defended as a thesis the cardiac form of American trypanosomiasis. Being one of the pioneers in the use of electrocardiography has made significant contributions on Chagas disease.

He conducted studies on Yellow Fever, Malaria, Hookworm, and especially about the Leishmaniasis, discovering the first human cases of the disease and conducting clinical and epidemiological investigations in several states in Brazil and in Argentina.