The German biopharmaceutical company Bayer awarded the Cuban scientist Yanira Méndez Gómez its 2022 Young Excellence Award, in the Medical Sciences category, for her contributions to the development of new methods for obtaining vaccines.
The Finlay Institute of Vaccines (IFV)the leading biotechnology institution in Cuba, congratulated the young specialist who contributed her knowledge for the design of Cuban vaccines against COVID-19 and completed his doctorate at that institution, together with the Chemical and Biomolecular Synthesis Laboratory (SintLab) of the University of Havana and the IPB of Germany.
Bayer, one of the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies, awarded the prize in Medical Sciences to Yanira Méndez Gómez, who did her PhD jointly between @SintesisLabthe @FinlayInstituto and the German GDP. Congratulations to you, your tutors and the #CubanScience. pic.twitter.com/VMagEAxpmS
– Finlay Vaccine Institute (@FinlayInstituto) January 26, 2023
According to public Bayer Foundation website, Méndez Gómez was recognized for developing new methods to make antibacterial vaccines and modifying antibodies to obtain anticancer agents.
In the same social network, the winner thanked the Cuban scientific institution. “Thank you! I have always felt very lucky to have been part of the wonderful team at the Finlay Vaccine Institute and to have been mentored by such talented scientists,” she wrote on her profile.
Highlights a report from the Prensa Latina (PL) agency that Sintlab, from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Havana, is a joint research and innovation entity with the BioCubaFarma business group.
This center was one of the three main entities that began the research and innovation work that led to the creation of Soberana, one of the anti-COVID-19 vaccines designed and produced in Cuba.
This project was directed by the Finlay Institute of Vaccines as the lead institution, with the participation of the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM).
In 2020, the National Commission for Scientific Degrees recognized the best doctorates in the different areas of knowledge, awarded between September 2018 and July 2019. Among those chosen was the work of Yanira Méndez Gómez, with the thesis Multicomponent reactions in the synthesis of antibacterial protease inhibitors and glycoconjugate vaccine candidates, price PL.
