Other Names: CENSA
Address: Carretera de Jamaica and Autopista Nacional,
San Jose de Las Lajas, Apdo. 10, La Habana
Location: Outside of Havana
Phone Number: 53 (64) 6633206 and 63014
Subordinate to: Ministry of Higher Education (according to the Center for Defense Information)
Director: Lydia M. Tablada Romero
Size: CENSA occupies a 30,000 square meter site. There are 400 employees at the institute, with almost 70 percent of them involved in research and development efforts.
Primary Function: According the Manuel Limonta, CENSA is involved in animal health research, along with protecting plants and crops from "exotic diseases."
Description: The facility is relatively old with little security.

Additional Information:
During an October 2002 visit to the center by representatives from the Center for Defense Information, two members commented that the research observed by the team appeared to be staged, while some of the buildings and laboratories did not appear to be designed for their stated purposes.

Key Sources: Manuel Limonta, "Biotechnology and the Third World: Development Strategies in Cuba," Biomedical Science and the Third World, ed., Barry Bloom and Anthony Cerami, (New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1989), pp. 325-333; Glenn Baker (ed.), Cuban biotechnology: A first-hand report, Washington, DC: Center for Defense Information, 20 May 2003.

	Updated February 2004