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Tag: Stowers Institute

  • Vilcek Foundation Awards $100,000 Prize in Biomedical Science to Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado

    Vilcek Foundation Awards $100,000 Prize in Biomedical Science to Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado

    Born in Venezuela, developmental and molecular biologist Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado receives the $100,000 prize for his contributions to the field of regeneration.

    Press Release
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    Feb 22, 2023 10:45 EST


    NEW YORK, February 22, 2023 (Newswire.com)
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    For his contributions to the field of regeneration, Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado receives the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science. The Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science is a $100,000 prize awarded annually by the Vilcek Foundation as part of its prizes program. 

    Awarded annually since 2006, the Vilcek Foundation prizes recognize and celebrate immigrant contributions to scientific research and discovery, and to artistic and cultural advancement in the United States. The prizes provide direct support to individual immigrant scientists and artists and help to raise greater public awareness of the value of immigration for a robust society. In 2023, the Vilcek Foundation awards four prizes in Biomedical Science, comprising the $100,000 Vilcek Prize and three $50,000 prizes—the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science. 

    Born in Caracas, Venezuela, molecular and developmental biologist Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado grew up using the scientific method to understand the things that fascinated him in the natural world. As a budding scientist, Sánchez Alvarado moved to the United States to pursue studies in molecular biology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Now a leader in the field of regeneration, he is the executive director and chief scientific officer of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Missouri.

    “Through the combination of rigorous research and new tools and technologies, Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado has worked to illuminate the important functions that epigenetics and signaling have on the process of regeneration,” says Vilcek Foundation Chairman and CEO Jan Vilcek. “His work has important implications on the understanding of cellular and organismal regeneration, and holds enormous promise for our further understanding of core biological concepts.”

    Says Vilcek Foundation President Rick Kinsel, “Research Institutions in the United States have drawn scientists from around the globe, and many groundbreaking discoveries in research and development in biology, physics, and medicine have been by immigrant scientists. The perspective and insight that foreign-born scientists bring to research and development, and the value of diversity in seeking answers to science and medicine’s most perplexing questions, cannot be overstated.”

    Sánchez Alvarado credits being an immigrant and being bilingual as having a profound impact on his work as a scientist, noting how the syntax interpretations of problems or ideas in two different languages—English and Spanish—help him to form more nuanced ideas and hypotheses. “Because every language is an interpretation of the universe, the more interpretations one has access to, the richer our comprehension of the world becomes,” he says. 

    He also reflects on the sacrifices that immigrants make to pursue the subjects and work they are passionate about in the United States. “We left everything behind to pursue an idea,” he says. “[We were] not looking for fame or fortune. [We] are looking for answers to questions.” 

    As part of the Vilcek Foundation’s prizes campaign, the foundation has published a biographical profile and video highlighting Sánchez Alvarado’s life and work on the Vilcek Foundation website, Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado: “Making the improbable possible.”

    The Vilcek Foundation

    The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences. The foundation was established in 2000 by Jan and Marica Vilcek, immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia. The mission of the foundation was inspired by the couple’s respective careers in biomedical science and art history. Since 2000, the foundation has awarded over $7 million in prizes to foreign-born individuals and supported organizations with over $6 million in grants.

    The Vilcek Foundation is a private operating foundation, a federally tax-exempt nonprofit organization under IRS Section 501(c)(3). To learn more, please visit vilcek.org. 

    Source: The Vilcek Foundation

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  • 2 South American students and researchers identified as homicide victims

    2 South American students and researchers identified as homicide victims

    Two South American students and researchers have been identified as homicide victims at the site of a Kansas City fire early.Camila Behrensen, 24, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Pablo Guzman Palma, 25, from Santiago, Chile, died in an apartment near 41st and Oak streets in Kansas City.Both Behrensen and Guzman-Palma were pre-doctoral graduate students at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City.After Kansas City firefighters were called to the apartment complex around 5 a.m. on Saturday, Kansas City police were called to the apartment to investigate a double homicide.Raul Gonzales was awakened Saturday morning by alarm sounds and then firefighters told him there was a fire in his building right across the hall from him.“It’s pretty crazy stuff, I’ve definitely never been so close to something like this occurring, and you know it’s just a sad situation all around,” he said.Gonzales said he knew his neighbors as Spanish speakers who liked to entertain friends at their apartment.“I just saw them hanging out, nothing really much beside that. They’d sit on their deck and talk on the phone. I would get their mail in my mailbox on occasion, but besides that, they were just normal,” he said.Leaders at the Stowers Institute released a statement Monday.”We are devastated by the tragic deaths of predoctoral researchers. These researchers were members of our 2020 class and vibrant members of our Stowers Institute community. Our deepest sympathies are with their families at this difficult time,” the statement said.The statement also included biographical information on both students.Behrensen has a bachelor of science degree from the University Argentina de la Empressa and spent two years studying metabolic changes in fruit flies.That research allowed her to co-author a paper published in Scientific Reports.Behrensen’s hope was to continue her studies and focus her research on metabolism and the role it plays in development. She dreamed one day of earning her postdoctoral degree and leading a research team by forming her own lab. Her classmates and faculty at the Institute describe her as a brilliant young woman who cared deeply for her work and her classmates. She was also an avid runner.Guzman Palma earned his bachelor of science degree and post-bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. His first research project focused on spinal cord regeneration. His hope was to continue his studies focusing on how cells interpret and integrate various types of cues and signals during development and possibly start his own lab after completing his Ph.D. and postdoctoral work.Guzman Palma’s classmates and faculty at the institute describe him as a gentle soul with a true passion for science and biology. They said he enjoyed reading, watching movies and had a love for live music.So far, Kansas City police detectives have not released a cause of death for either Behrensen or Guzman Palma. No fire cause has been released either. No arrest has been made in this case.

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. —

    Two South American students and researchers have been identified as homicide victims at the site of a Kansas City fire early.

    Camila Behrensen, 24, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Pablo Guzman Palma, 25, from Santiago, Chile, died in an apartment near 41st and Oak streets in Kansas City.

    Both Behrensen and Guzman-Palma were pre-doctoral graduate students at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City.

    After Kansas City firefighters were called to the apartment complex around 5 a.m. on Saturday, Kansas City police were called to the apartment to investigate a double homicide.

    Raul Gonzales was awakened Saturday morning by alarm sounds and then firefighters told him there was a fire in his building right across the hall from him.

    “It’s pretty crazy stuff, I’ve definitely never been so close to something like this occurring, and you know it’s just a sad situation all around,” he said.

    Gonzales said he knew his neighbors as Spanish speakers who liked to entertain friends at their apartment.

    “I just saw them hanging out, nothing really much beside that. They’d sit on their deck and talk on the phone. I would get their mail in my mailbox on occasion, but besides that, they were just normal,” he said.

    Leaders at the Stowers Institute released a statement Monday.

    “We are devastated by the tragic deaths of predoctoral researchers. These researchers were members of our 2020 class and vibrant members of our Stowers Institute community. Our deepest sympathies are with their families at this difficult time,” the statement said.

    The statement also included biographical information on both students.

    Behrensen has a bachelor of science degree from the University Argentina de la Empressa and spent two years studying metabolic changes in fruit flies.

    That research allowed her to co-author a paper published in Scientific Reports.

    Behrensen’s hope was to continue her studies and focus her research on metabolism and the role it plays in development. She dreamed one day of earning her postdoctoral degree and leading a research team by forming her own lab. Her classmates and faculty at the Institute describe her as a brilliant young woman who cared deeply for her work and her classmates. She was also an avid runner.

    Guzman Palma earned his bachelor of science degree and post-bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. His first research project focused on spinal cord regeneration. His hope was to continue his studies focusing on how cells interpret and integrate various types of cues and signals during development and possibly start his own lab after completing his Ph.D. and postdoctoral work.

    Guzman Palma’s classmates and faculty at the institute describe him as a gentle soul with a true passion for science and biology. They said he enjoyed reading, watching movies and had a love for live music.

    So far, Kansas City police detectives have not released a cause of death for either Behrensen or Guzman Palma. No fire cause has been released either. No arrest has been made in this case.

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