Pablo Valenzuela, Scientific Director and Cofounder of Fundación Ciencia & Vida, delivered the 2016 Inaugural Address at Universidad San Sebastián
3/04/2016The renowned biochemist and entrepreneur Pablo Valenzuela was invited by Universidad San Sebastián to give a master class in the opening ceremony of the 2016 academic year. The ceremony was held on March 29th in the Auditorium of Campus Los Leones.
During his talk, entitled “Impacto de la Investigación en Biociencias en la Práctica Profesional en el Sector Salud” (Impact of Biosciences Research in the Professional Practice in the Health Sector), Dr. Valenzuela stressed the importance of basic research, its unsuspected scope and the importance that medical schools integrate this new knowledge into their curricula. In his address, Dr. Valenzuela made a historical tour of biomedical research emphasizing that: “Forty years ago we made a vaccine transferring genetic information from a virus to yeast, at present, gene therapy and the use of stem cell technology will allows us to treat some genetic abnormalities and other pathologies with safer and less toxic drugs”.
The opening ceremony was closed with the words of Mr. Hugo Lavados, Rector of Universidad San Sebastián, who emphasized what was exposed in the master class, adding: “Scientific knowledge improves the welfare of people suffering incapacitating or high mortality diseases. Therefore, this university must also make a contribution to the treatment of chronic disorders in our country by strengthening our research in the biomedical area”.
Dr. Pablo Valenzuela giving his master class during the opening ceremony of the 2016 academic year at Universidad San Sebastián.