Dr. Eddy Nelson Pérez Then is the winner of the National Sciences Award 2021 granted by the Ministry of Superior Education, Science and Technology (Mescyt). The award is in its fourth year.
Dr. Pérez Then is a public health expert and medical doctor with over 25 years of experience. He presides the Dominican Research Enterprise Two Oceans in Health. He is a member of the Abinader Administration Health Cabinet of the Dominican Republic, and the director of the O&M Medical School (O&Med) and the Global Health and Biotechnology Research Center affiliate to O&Med. Previously, he was the director and founder of the Knowledge Management Department at Cedimat (2010-2017).
In his keynote speech at the award ceremony, Superior Education Minister Franklin García Fermín announced the cash prize was being increased to RD700,000 from RD$500,000 in the past.
García Fermín said 110 additional scientists are now receiving endowments for research, increasing to 1,313 the members of the national career in sciences. García Fermín says this continues to be very low for the population – 131 members per million inhabitants.
In his acceptance speech, Dr. Eddy Nelson Pérez Then dedicated the award to Dr. Hugo Mendoza, whom he described as the greatest researcher the Dominican Republic has ever had.
The winner of the National Sciences Award, Dr. Perez Then is a 1992 medical school graduate of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU). He completed his master’s degree in public health at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo in 1996.
In 2001 he received the James H. Nakano Award from the United States’ Atlanta Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with other national and international researchers.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded him in June 2006 for his outstanding contribution to the prevention of Vertical Transmission of HIV in the Dominican Republic, among other recognitions.
He is recognized for having set the standard in clinical research in the Dominican Republic, focusing on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and has dedicated most of his efforts to develop strategies to improve health care practices in the Dominican Republic.
As the current Director of O&Med, he is working to develop teaching strategies and curriculum integration to bring together technological advances and medical knowledge for change in the medical educational paradigm of the country.
García Fermin said the awards recognize the transcendent role of researchers. In addition to Dr. Perez Then, others receiving awards and RD$300,000 cash prizes were:
Physics-Chemistry category (the Gustavo Rathe Medinacelli Award): Dr. Máximo Santana de Asís
Agro-Food Sciences category (the André Vioebergh Belat Award): Dr. José Atilio De Frías García
Biological and Environmental Sciences (the Eugenio de Jesús Marcano award): Dr. Santiago Wigberto Bueno López
Health Sciences (Sergio Bencosme Ruiz Award): Dr. Amado Alejando Báez,
The Álvaro Nadal Pastor award was given to architect Esteban Prieto Vicioso,
Technology-Based Innovation: Víctor Manuel González Holguín.
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Diario Libre
9 December 2021