Diaspora Brazil Awards Press Release

Transcription

1 Diaspora Brazil Awards Press Release

2 BRAZIL HONORS TALENTED SCIENTISTS LIVING ABROAD IN AWARDS CEREMONY Because of the globalization phenomenon, there are numerous knowledgeable and talented Brazilian professionals living outside the country today. With the aid of technology, national borders have become increasingly flexible, making it easier for one to relocate and to make a living away from one s country of origin. This is often the case with highly qualified professionals, such as scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs, who seek new opportunities and new challenges in renowned organizations around the world. Among them are those who show outstanding dedication and innovative vision in their area of expertise, and significantly contribute to build a positive image of Brazil in the global arena while developing important connections between their country of residence and Brazil. In an effort to provide these professionals with much-deserved recognition for their outstanding work and contributions, the Diaspora Brazil Awards were created by the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development through its program Diaspora Brazil Network. This program aims to create connections between Brazilians living abroad and companies and institutions in Brazil to spur international collaborative projects and opportunities in knowledge-intensive areas. In May 2014, the first edition of the Diaspora Brazil Awards took place where six Brazilian professionals living in the USA were invited to Brazil to be recognized in the following categories: Professionals of The Year, for their excellence in the areas of Information Technology and Communications (IT) and Health Sciences; Diaspora Brazil Network Highlights, for their remarkable contribution in expanding and strengthening the Diaspora Brazil Network program abroad; and Honorable Mention, for their notorious knowledge and individual efforts to elevate the image of Brazil abroad through science, technology, and business. The ceremony was held at the Itamaraty Palace, located in the heart of the country s modernist capital, Brasília. 2

3 AWARDEES // HONORABLE MENTION

4 AWARDEES HONORABLE MENTION Marcelo Nóbrega. M.D., Ph.D. Human Genetics. University of Chicago. Illinois-USA. Received his M.D. degree from the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil, and his doctoral degree in physiology and molecular genetics from Medical College of Wisconsin in the US. He was also a postdoctoral fellow at University of California at Berkeley. Marcelo has been in the United States for 17 years and is an associate professor of the Department of Human Genetics at University of Chicago, where he directs a research laboratory focused on the genetic basis of disorders caused by mutations outside the coding DNA. He and his group were the fi rst to identifi ed the genetic combinations related to the gene IRX3 associated with obesity, a study published in Nature magazine in March Among other achievements, Marcelo was also counted among the researchers who participated in the Human Genome Project. José Nelson Onuchic Ph.D. Biological Physics. Rice University. Texas-USA. Professor and researcher in the fields of Physics, Astronomy, and Chemistry at Rice University, and the co-director of the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), José Nelson obtained his bachelor degree from the University of Sao Paulo and his Ph.D. from Caltech in 1987 under the mentorship of Professor John J. Hopfield. In 1990, he joined the University of California at San Diego. In 2006, he was appointed member of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2009, to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. His current research interest is on theoretical and computational biophysics, focused on molecular and chemical reactions methods in condensed matter, an area of research aimed to use modern methods of theoretical physics to solve complex biological phenomena. 4

5 AWARDEES // PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR

6 Cláudio Antonio Pinho Joazeiro, Ph.D. California-USA Cláudio is a Brazilian living in San Diego for 23 years, with prominent positions in both academia and in the pharmaceutical industry and is a witness to the recent process that led that city to become the second largest global center for innovation in the field of biopharmaceuticals. He holds a Bachelors of Sciences in Biology and a Masters of Sciences in Biochemistry from the University of Sao Paulo. He received his doctoral degree in Biology from the University of California, in San Diego. Cláudio also served as a postdoctoral fellow at University of California Los Angeles, followed by a fellowship at the Salk Institute in San Diego. He was also the head of the laboratory of genomics at Novartis. Since 2006 he has been an associate professor at the Scripps Institute, a private, non-profit research institution responsible for advisory in innovation for more than 60 companies in the biopharmaceutical market. Professional of The Year Health Sciences Duília Fernandes de Mello, Ph.D. Maryland-USA NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Bachelors of Arts in Astronomy from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and Master of Sciences in Astronomy from the University of Alabama in the US. Duília also holds a doctoral degree in Astrophysics from the University of São Paulo and served as a postdoctoral fellow at Cerro Tololo Hubble, Chile-USA. She has worked in Sweden and in the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Currently, Duília is an associate professor of the Department of Physics at the Catholic University in Washington, DC. Professional of The Year - Information Technology 6

7 DIASPORA BRASIL NETWORK DISTINCTIONS

8 Cristina Caldas Ramos, Ph.D. Massachusetts-USA Cristina is co-founder of the Brazilian Researchers and College Students Network of Boston (PubBoston), and coordinator of the Department of Educational Cooperation of the General Consulate of Brazil in Boston. She has been focusing in recent years on the activities of locating, engaging and supporting Brazilian scientists and scholars in the United States, specifically in the New England region, to connect them with organizations in Brazil. Cristina holds a Bachelors of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Molecular Biology from the University of Brasilia, with also a doctoral degree in Immunology from the University of Sao Paulo. She writes about science on blogs and magazines and promotes ongoing activities of aggregation and integration of the Brazilian scientific community in the Boston area. Eliseu Ortega De Oliveira, Ph.D. Washington-DC-USA Eliseu is a medicinal chemist scientist, currently working at the Center for Drug Discovery of Georgetown University, where he conducts research on the development of new therapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer, infl ammation, analgesia and disorders of the central nervous system. He also represents Georgetown as its scientifi c manager in the Chemical Biology Consortium of the Program NEXT Therapeutics of the National Cancer Institute in the United States, where he coordinates scientifi c activities aimed at fi nding a new drug for the treatment of colon cancer. Prior to Georgetown, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in the fi eld of design and synthesis of new serotonergic and dopaminergic agents aimed to the treatment of central nervous system disorders, including schizophrenia, depression, pain and drug abuse. Eliseu is a graduate of the University of Sao Paulo (USP), where he obtained a doctoral degree in Medicinal Chemistry (School of Pharmacy, USP) and a Masters of Sciences degree in Organic Chemistry (Institute of Chemistry, USP). He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the Catholic University of Paraná (PUC-Pr), and served the industrial sector as Supervisor of Research and Development of Britanite Industrias Quimicas Ltda in Brazil. Eliseu is the co-founder of Brazilian Expert Network - BEN-DC, a group of Brazilian professionals in the Washington-DC area, and is a strong supporter of the Diaspora Brasil Network in the US Mid-Atlantic region. 8

9 Duília Mello, Professional of The Year - Information Technology award winner Maria Luisa Leal, Director of the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development. Cláudio Joazeiro, Professional of the Year - Health Sciences award winner 9

10 Cristina Caldas, Diaspora Brazil Network Distinction Award winner. Antônio Carlos Campos de Carvalho Director of Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Health of Brazil Eliseu Ortega de Oliveira, Diaspora Brazil Network Distinction Award winner. Ambassador Jose Antonio Marcondes, Under- Secretary-General for the Environment, Energy and High Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil 10

11 Marcelo Nóbrega, Honorable Mention Award. Mauro Borges Lemos, Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade of Brazil José Nelson Onuchic, Honorable Mention Award. Paulo Sotero, Director of the Brazil Institute Wilson Center 11

12 Left to Right. Paulo Sotero (Director of the Brazil Institute, Wilson Center); Maria Luisa Leal (Director of the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development, Ambassador Eduardo dos Santos (Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil); Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil; Antônio Carlos Campos de Carvalho (Director of Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Health of Brazil); Guilherme Melo de Azevedo (Deputy Chairman, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development); Adriana Machado (Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy for General Electric in Latin America). 12

13 Lef to right: Maria Luisa Leal (Director, Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development); Patrícia Vicentini (Foreing Affairs Office Coordinator, Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development ); Cláudio Joazeiro (Award Winner); Rodolfo Milhomem (Senior Analyst, Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development); Marcelo Nóbrega (Award Winner); Eduardo Rezende (Specialist, Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development); Cristina Caldas (Award Winner); Lanna Dioum (Senior Analyst, Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development); Mauro Borges Lemos (Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade); Ruy Caldas (Professor of Genome Sciences and Biotechnology, Catholic University of Brasilia); José Nelson Onuchic (Award Winner); Duilia Melo (Award Winner); Eliseu Ortega (Award Winner); Roberto Alvarez (Head of the Strategic Analysis and Projects Division, Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development); Otávio Camargo (Director, Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development). 13

14 Contact Follow the Diaspora Brazil Network on social networks: Diaspora Brazil Network on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter: DiasporaBR Projeto gráfico e diagramação: Marco Lúcius Freitas Texto: Ivan Bicudo

15 Contact Follow the Diaspora Brazil Network on social networks: Diaspora Brazil Network on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter: DiasporaBR