CONICET fellow was awarded for her contributions on the study of trichinella patagoniensis.

Clara Bessi, doctoral fellow of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) in the Implementation Unit of Research on Animal Production (INPA/CONICET-UBA) was awarded by the International Commission on Trichinellosis (ICT) for her work called “Experimental study of wild boars infected with Trichinella patagoniensis, pseudospiralis and T.spiralis.”

“When I received this prize I felt great joy because our research team has worked a lot on this study and I’m very proud for being recognized by the International Commission on Trichinellosis,” the fellow affirms.

The Student Research Award is an award given by the International Commission on Trichinellosis to young researchers. It is celebrated every four years in different countries in the world and attended by the most prestigious members of that committee.

The ICT was founded in 1958 in Budapest, Hungary and the main objectives are to exchange the knowledge on biology, patophysiology, epidemology, immunology and clinical features of trichinella infection in animals and humans, and to provide guides and recommendations on the prevention of human exposure to this parasite transmitted by food.  Trichinella is an endemic disease in our country and zoonotic produced by one parasite of the trichinella spp. transmitted by multiple animal species. In that group, the pigs, boars and cougars were the animals lately involved the cases of human Trinchinella,” explains the veterinarian who hold the Chair of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases at the Faculty of Veterinarian Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

This job is part of a research project initiated more than one year ago, in which the Chair of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases of the Faculty of Veterinary -UBA, the Chair of Pig Production Sciences (FCV-UBA) and the INPA participate.

“To obtain this award, we sent the study and after a selection process, the initiative was chosen to be presented at the 15th International Congress of Trichinellosis, celebrated in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where the new advances on this disease were presented”, Bessi expresses.

The General Secretary of the ICT, Professor Doctor Karsten Noeckler, told Bessi about the award and wished her “continuous success in her scientific work.” For Bessi, this recognition is an important encouragement to our hard research work, which will allow us to meet prestigious international experts in Romania. Besides, this will give us the opportunity to conduct joint studies between FCV UBA and research centers from other countries.

As regards the expectations after the prize, Bessi concludes that it is useful to “let people know about this disease, which is present in our country, in order to control and prevent Trichinellosis.”