Ten Latin American Scientists Named 2008 Pew Fellows in the Biomedica...( Program Supports Development of S...)

Program Supports Development of Strong Scientific Capacity in Latin America

WASHINGTON, June 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pew Charitable Trusts and the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) announced today that 10 promising biomedical scientists have been named 2008 Pew Latin American Fellows in the Biomedical Sciences. Funded by Pew through a grant to UCSF, the highly competitive fellowship program offers talented young Latin American scientists $60,000 for a two-year training period. The award is administered by the sponsoring U.S. institution, which supplements the stipend with at least $5,000 a year and also provides medical benefits for the fellow. Following the two year fellowship, the Program will issue an additional $35,000 award to the sponsoring institution to purchase equipment and supplies for the fellow to establish a laboratory in his or her home country.

"Pew's Latin American Fellows Program gives these exemplary scientists the opportunity to further their knowledge, and it promotes exchange and collaboration between researchers in the United States and Latin America," said Rebecca W. Rimel, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences was launched in 1991 to help develop a cadre of highly trained Latin American scientists who could stimulate and contribute to the growth of quality biomedical science and foster collaboration between scientists in Latin America and the U.S. Since 1991, the Trusts has invested more than $11 million to fund more than 150 fellows, close to 80 percent of whom have returned to their home countries. Applicants from all Central and South American countries are invited to apply, and selection is made by a distinguished national advisory committee chaired by Dr. Torsten N. Wiesel, president emeritus of Rockefeller University and a 1981 Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine.

The 2008 Pe
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