With a staff of over 200, the Gorgas Institute is Panama’s main public health institute.  Its major departments include a basic research center specializing in genomics, virology, parasitology, entomology, epidemiology, and reproductive health; a reference center that houses various laboratories, including those for food and water evaluation; an experimental research station; and a regional training and education center.

In 2008, one of the institute's major accomplishments was completion of a national survey of reproductive health in the county’s various urban, rural, and indigenous populations. The institute also started a national survey of cardiovascular risk factors and renal disease, in addition to completing a therapeutic trial on a topical treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.