Award-winning CONICET researchers

Scientists at the CONICET were awarded in the 2014 edition of these prizes which recognizes the contributions of the researchers for the impact of production of new knowledge, as well as the social and productive impact of the technological innovations and the training of human resources.

The Houssay Award is given to professionals under the age of 45; the Houssay Career is for the professionals older that that age; and the Jorge Sábato is a special distinction for those researchers who have contributed to the transference and technological development with economic and productive impact on critical areas for the economic and social development of the country.

The prizewinners of the 2014 edition were:

Houssay Award

Medical Sciences Area: Vanesa Gottifredi, independent researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires (IIBBA, CONICET-Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas Fundación Leloir). She was chosen for her contributions to the knowledge on cancer cell plasticity in DNA damage. In the future, her research could promote the enhancement in the use of chemotherapy protocols.

– Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Areas: Javier Palatnik, CONICET principal researcher at the Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario (IBR, CONICET-UNR). He found the MicroRNA regulation of gene expression in plants, finds that he moved to the practical field for the development of technological tools.

– Social Sciences Area: Juan Ignacio Piovani, CONICET independent researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (IDIHCS, CONICET-UNLP). He was awarded for his theoretical and empirical proposals in the field of research methodology in social sciences and the empirical analysis of employment and gender.

– Physics, Mathematics and Computer Sciences: Sebastián Uchitel, independent researcher at the Departamento de Computación de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales de la Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) for his research into the creation of automated reasoning systems which can address the complexity of a modern software and provide useful answers for the developer.

Houssay Award for Career:

– Medical Sciences Area: Elsa Damonte, senior researcher at the Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN, CONICET-UBA). Dr. Damonte was a pioneer in the study of antiviral activity of plant-derived products. Her studies on basic virology applied to viruses of public health importance in Argentina are some of her most important contributions.

– Chemistry, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology: Alberto Frasch, senior researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnológico Chascomús (IIB-INTECH, CONICET-UNSAM). He studies Molecular Parasitology and Genetics of Chagas Disease and published the first DNA sequence held in the country.

– Physics, Mathematics, Computer Sciences: Juan Pablo Paz, senior researcher at the Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires (IFIBA, CONICET-UBA), awarded for his Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics and its applications to Quatum Computing.

– Social Sciences Area: Alfredo Pucciarelli, CONICET principal (r) at the Instituto de Investigaciones “Gino Germani”, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Buenos Aires. He was an expert in the study of rural sociology of Argentina and creador of innovative approaches on the agrarian structure of the country.

Jorge Sábato Award

– Hugo Luján: CONICET principal researcher at the Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Inmunología y Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIDIE, CONICET-UCCOR). He was awarded for the Discovery of the avoidance mechanisms used by the protozoan Giardia lamblia and the following development of the vaccine for giardia.