Macarena Lizama

The Down Syndrome center UC, from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, was founded in October 2014 by the faculties of Medicine, Engineering, Biological Sciences, Arts, Education, the UC Sports unit and DUOC UC. From that date until now we are physically working at our headquarters located at Campus Oriente UC, which has had three expansions, the first in 2016 with the installation of a container intended for an educational-technological room, the year 2019 with the expansion of a waiting place for families located in the garden space of our headquarters and the year 2020 with the remodeling of the adjoining house, allocating spaces to work rooms and the Simulated House, today named in honor of our recently deceased deputy director Francisco Bozinovic Kusevic (06/06/1959-†01/01/2023). Over the years, our Center has focused on improving the quality of life of people with Down syndrome, an objective that has challenged us from the various areas of our work, both in connection with the community, in training to different professionals and in the development of lines of research around the issues that affect the lives of people with this condition. The fundamental mission of the UC Down Syndrome Center is to improve the quality of life of people with Down Syndrome, by promoting knowledge in the training of expert professionals, providing tools and training to people with Down Syndrome and their families, to facilitate the maximum development of their capabilities and inclusion in our society with dignity and respect, recognizing as a characteristic of the Center, the guiding and ethical contribution of the Catholic faith in all its activities.