Professor Fabián Michelangeli, from the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC), has taken up the Simón Bolívar Chair at the Centre of Latin American Studies.
Professor Fabián Michelangeli, from the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC), has taken up the Simón Bolívar Chair at the Centre of Latin American Studies.
A distinguished Latin American scholar, Professor Michelangeli also has extensive experience in biological research and teaching. His tenure will run until June 30, 2011.
His scientific research has focused mostly on digestive processes in both animals and plants. In collaboration with several investigators at IVIC and other research institutions, he initiated an ambitious project to collect and study the biological activity and chemistry of Venezuelan medicinal plants with the aim of finding new chemical compounds with potential application to medicine.
Professor Michelangeli has also developed an extensive understanding of the traditions and medicinal knowledge of indigenous communities, as well as environmental issues, particularly those associated with the Venezuelan rainforests.
He said: “I feel very honoured by this appointment as Simón Bolívar Professor. It is the best thing that has happened in my scientific career. Cambridge is the Olympus of science and culture in the world.”
In 2003, Fabián Michelangeli was appointed Director of the Centro Latinoamericano de Ciencias Biológicas (CLAB), an IVIC-UNESCO Centre for the development of biology and biomedicine and the establishment of Latin American research networks.
In the past 30 years CLAB has organized more than 80 courses and workshops with the participation of more than 2,000 students from Latin America and teaching staff from Latin America, the USA and Europe.
In 1996, Fabián Michelangeli was awarded the highest level of the Orden Andrés Bello by the Venezuelan President Rafael Caldera. The Orden Andrés Bello is the prime honour given by the Venezuelan Government to scientists and educators in the country. In 2000, he was elected as a Member of the La Salle Natural Sciences Society in Caracas, and in 2004 was elected into the Latin American Academy of Sciences (ACAL).
During his Professorship, Fabián Michelangeli will have links with the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, and with Robinson College.
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