The Vilcek Foundation awards an award in biomedical sciences to Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado

“Because every language is an interpretation of the universe, the more interpretations an individual has access to, the richer our understanding of the world becomes.” Sanchez Alvarado highlights Speaking of his work…

Vilcec Foundationwhich since 2000 has awarded more than $7 million in awards to foreign-born individuals and supported organizations with more than $6 million in grants, presented the award to an eminent molecular and developmental biologist.

Jan VilcekPresident and CEO of the Foundation, highlighted:

Through a combination of rigorous research and new tools and technologies, Alejandro Sanchez Alvarado has worked to highlight the important roles that epigenetics and signaling play in the regeneration process.

Awarded annually since 2006, the Vilcek Foundation Awards recognize and celebrate immigrants’ contributions to scientific research and discovery, as well as artistic and cultural advancement in the United States.

The Awards provide direct support to immigrant scholars and artists and help create greater public awareness of the value of immigration to a strong society.

In 2023, the Vilcek Foundation is awarding four prizes in the biomedical sciences, including the $100,000 Vilcek Prize, which was awarded to Sánchez Alvarado, and three $50,000 Prizes.

“Their work has important implications for understanding the regeneration of cells and organisms, and holds great promise for our further understanding of basic biological concepts,” Vilcek added.

Meet Alejandro Sanchez Alvarado –@tweet. the @tweet The research leader received the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Sciences – $100,000 – for his contributions to our understanding of the molecular and cellular basics of regeneration. #Science_Twitter https://t.co/ZZ5Ki1NZYs pic.twitter.com/c2EVhO9Uz2

– Vilcek Foundation (Vilcek) February 22, 2023

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Sanchez Alvarado grew up using the scientific method to understand the things that fascinated him in the natural world.

Sanchez Alvarado, who moved to the United States to pursue molecular biology studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, is now a pioneer in the field of regeneration, serving as executive director of the Stures Institute and scientific director of medical research in Kansas City, Missouri. .

The molecular and developmental biologist acknowledges that being an immigrant and being bilingual has had a profound impact on his work as a scientist, noting how grammatical explanations of problems or ideas in two different languages, English and Spanish, help him form more nuanced ideas and hypotheses. .

Sanchez Alvarado also emphasizes the sacrifices immigrants make to pursue subjects and work they are interested in in the sciences.

“We leave everything behind to pursue an idea. We weren’t looking for fame or fortune. We were looking for answers to questions,” he highlights.

For his part, Vilcek Foundation President Rick Kinsel noted: “Research institutions in the United States have attracted scientists from all over the world, and many innovative discoveries in research and development in biology, physics and medicine have been made by immigrant scientists. The perspective and knowledge cannot be underestimated that foreigners bring to research and development, and the value of diversity in the search for answers to the most perplexing questions in science and medicine.”