Our Story
LASOCHA
In response to the lack of knowledge of Chagas disease and lack of access to treatment for existing patients in our community we have established a non-profit organization LASOCHA, with Jenny Sanchez as President and Dr. Rachel Marcus as Medical Director.
Our goal is to provide access to medical services to the at-risk Latin American community in the metropolitan Washington area, as well as to raise awareness of Chagas disease within the community and the medical community that serves at-risk patients in the United States.
Who we are
Jenny Sanchez
President
Jenny Sanchez is President of LASOCHA (Latin American Society of Chagas), a Chagas Patient’s association in the United States. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Pharmacy in 1994 from San Francisco Xavier University in Sucre-Bolivia. She has worked with the Red Cross Bolivia as a supervisor of the Tuberculosis laboratory.
She also helped establish a network of TB labs in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. She took on a challenging role helping the laboratory become a Reference Laboratory for MDR-TB (Multi Drug Resistant Tuberculosis). She has worked as Microbiologist at INOVA Diagnostic Laboratory in Northern Virginia for about 10 years and she is currently working as Quality Assurance coordinator at Quest Diagnostics laboratory in Chantilly, Virginia.
Jenny Sanchez
President
Jenny Sanchez is President of LASOCHA (Latin American Society of Chagas) a Chagas Patient’s association in the United States. Graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Pharmacy in 1994 from San Francisco Xavier University in Sucre-Bolivia. She has worked with the Red Cross, Bolivia as a supervisor of the Tuberculosis laboratory.
Furthermore, helped establish a network of TB labs in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. She took a challenging role to help the laboratory become a Reference Laboratory for MDR-TB (Multi Drug Resistant Tuberculosis). She has worked as Microbiologist at INOVA Diagnostic Laboratory in Northern Virginia for about 10 years and she is currently working as Quality Assurance coordinator at Quest Diagnostics laboratory in Chantilly, Virginia.
Dr. Rachel Marcus
Medical Director
Dr. Rachel Marcus graduated from Stanford Medical School in 1994 and worked as an intern and resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston before returning to Stanford for a fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine. Because of a longstanding commitment to working with under served communities in the U.S. and abroad, she left an office practice of cardiology to join forces with Jenny Sanchez and the LASOCHA board to develop the medical program for the non-profit.
She also helped support research in Chagas disease in collaboration with Johns Hopkins, in addition to working as a Regional Director of Echocardiography at Medstar North Hospital in Baltimore. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
Dr. Rachel Marcus
Medical Director
Dr. Rachel Marcus graduated from Stanford Medical School in 1994 and worked as an intern and resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston before returning to Stanford for a fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine. Because of a longstanding commitment for working with underserved communities in the U.S. and abroad she left an office practice of cardiology to join forces with Jenny Sanchez and the LASOCHA board to develop the medical program for the non-profit.
She also helped support research in Chagas disease in collaboration with Johns Hopkins, in addition to working as a cardiologist at Medstar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
Join the team
Would you like to volunteer?
Would you like to be part of LASOCHA and help us fight Chagas disease? Join our team and become a volunteer! If you are interested and would like to inquire about this opportunity, please fill in the application form.
Donate
Help us fight Chagas disease
If you would like to become a partner and fight Chagas disease toe to toe, please connect to us at: Jenny: 703-655-8246, Dr. Rachel: 202-236-9385, or contact us here.