Cuban scientists are awarded for their contributions

Havana, April 1 (RHC) Cuban scientists on behalf of their groups received in Havana the national awards for Technological Innovation and the Special Awards from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment -CITMA-, for their research results.

Inés María Chapman Waugh, Deputy Prime Minister of Cuba, delivered three of the eight corresponding to the second category for their social impact: Development, scaling and production of vaccines, from the Finlay Institute of Vaccines; obtaining the Abdala vaccine, the first Latin American anti-COVID-19 protein subunit vaccine, from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; and Families in the Constitution, from the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana.

The remaining recognitions were granted by Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, Minister of CITMA, and the heads of the Ministries of Higher Education and Industry, José Ramón Saborido Loidi and Eloy Álvarez Martínez, respectively.

In turn, Doctor of Medicine Luis Velázquez Pérez, president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences, awarded the only winner in the two sectors: the Repositioning of the Cuban humanized monoclonal antibody NIMOTUZUMAB in the treatment of patients with the COVID19 pandemic, whose main executing entity is the Center for Molecular Immunology.

More than 20 years ago, this antibody was used in patients with tumors of epithelial origin, proposed to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 receptor and currently in use in all hospitals in the nation, included in one of the protocols of the Ministry of Public Health.

The Havana Convention Center served as the venue for the delivery ceremony which, in the case of technological innovation, corresponded to 11 presented by hundreds of authors and co-authors from specialized centers, hospitals, organizations, companies, stations and universities, mostly from Havana.

Only in this edition and exceptionally, CITMA approved 19 in total for their contribution to knowledge, scientific and environmental relevance; the connection, integration and contribution to the development and well-being of the Cuban population.

On behalf of the winners, Dr. Tania Crombet Ramos, from the Center for Molecular Immunology, expressed her commitment to continue the work in order to achieve results with high scientific rigor and value, which have an impact on society and, above all, on the lives of our people, who deserve everything.

Andrea Armas Rodríguez, General Director of Science, Technology and Innovation at CITMA, assured that the representation of the awarded scientific community provides solutions with the optimism, joy and aspirations that characterize a country that is struggling to get ahead. (Source: ACN)