Ten Top Latin American Scientists Named 2009 Pew Fellows in the Biomedica...( PHILADELPHIA June 16 -- The...)

PHILADELPHIA, June 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pew Charitable Trusts today named 10 promising young scientists as Pew Latin American Fellows in the Biomedical Sciences. The rigorously competitive program provides $60,000 in salary support for postdoctoral level scientists to work with leading researchers in the United States. Upon returning to Latin America, Fellows receive an additional $35,000 to purchase essential equipment to continue their research in their home countries.

"Pew's Latin American Fellows Program is designed to further the development of outstanding scientists by providing them with excellent training in high-quality scientific laboratories in the U.S.," said Rebecca W. Rimel, President and CEO of The Pew Charitable Trusts. "We are proud to invest in Latin America's scientific future. These Fellows will help lead the global advance of research to protect and promote the health of the public."

The Latin American Fellows Program is one of The Pew Charitable Trusts' two long-standing commitments in this field, which also includes the Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences, a program for America's leading early-career scientists. The Fellows program was launched in 1991 to help develop a community of highly-trained researchers who could stimulate and contribute to the growth of important biomedical research, and to foster collaboration between scientists in Latin America and the U.S.

Since 1991, Pew has invested over $14 million to fund over 175 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 to the program, 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 2009 Pew Latin American
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