The 2022 National Prize in Natural Sciences winner, Dr. Sergio Lavandero, took part in our latest CEDENNA Series talk with the topic “Present and future challenges in cardiovascular research”. An interesting session in which the distinguished researcher and academic at Universidad de Chile presented the main causes of cardiovascular diseases, as well as the latest discoveries in the field.
Dr. Lavandero was awarded the National Prize for his contribution to the discovery of new molecular mechanisms in the development of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes.
“My field of work is chronic non-communicable diseases, which are the pathologies that sicken and kill most Chileans and the world’s population: in order of importance, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, obesity and diabetes,” said Lavandero on receiving the award, also highlighting the work of the Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases (ACCDiS) he directs, for training “new generations of scientists who do research relevant to the country.”
Together with his team, he has described new ideas, mechanisms and cellular processes that occur in the genesis and development of heart diseases. For example, the discovery of a new form of heart failure (heart failure with preserved systolic function); the discovery, in collaboration with María Paz Ocaranza, Jorge Jalil and Mario Chiong, of Angiotensin-(1-9), a regulatory peptide of the cardiovascular system; and discoveries about alterations in the functioning and communication of subcellular organelles linked to diseases.
He has published more than 312 articles in indexed international journals, six book chapters and 30 articles in national journals, and holds five patents. The research platform Research.com highlighted him as the second most cited researcher in Chile in the field of Biology and Biochemistry.
Stay tuned for the next CEDENNA seminar, scheduled for Thursday, September 29, which will also bring us a National Prize winner with a very interesting talk.
