The Ibero-American Network of Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics (RIBEF) studies Latin American populations to benefit from the implementation of personalized medicine. Since 2006, it has studied ethnicity to apply pharmacogenetics knowledge in autochthonous populations of Latin America, considering ancestral medicine. The meeting 'Pharmacogenetics: ethnicity, Treatment and Health in Latin American Populations' was held in Mexico City, Mexico, and presented the relevance of RIBEF collaboration with Latin American researchers and the governments of Mexico, Spain and the Autonomous Community of Extremadura. The results of 17 years of uninterrupted work by RIBEF, the Declaration of Mérida/T'Hó and the call for the Dr José María Cantú Award for studies focused on the pharmacogenetics of native populations in Latin America were presented.
Keywords: Latin American; Native Americans; biomarkers; ethnicity; pharmacogenetics.