Carlos Miguel Finlay Villalvilla

Dr. Carlos Miguel Finlay Villalvilla was born in La Habana. He studied Medicine at the Universidad de La Habana, and at the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad de París, France, and completed his studies in 1960, at the Hospital Knickerbocker, in Nueva York, Estados Unidos de Norteamérica. He completed a vertical internship in Psychiatry at the Hospital ?Calixto García?, in La Habana, in 1961, where he validated his Diploma of Doctor in Medicine.

Subsequently he worked in the Rural-Social Medical service, at the Hospital La Escondida, Monte Ruz, Guantánamo, in 1962, and began a residency in Internal Medicine in 1961, at the Hospital ?Manuel Fajardo?, in La Habana. He then worked at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas (CENIC), where he was part of that nucleus that forged Sciences in Cuba and where he conducted research as a Doctoral Candidate between 1968 and 1970, a period in which he held the position of Subdirector of Biology at CENIC.

He spent time at the Clinical Research Centre, at the Northwick Park Hospital, in Londres, Reino Unido from 1971 to 1972, continues his Doctoral Candidacy from 1973 to 1975, and graduated as a Doctor in Biological Sciences, in La Habana, in 1975. From that date until 1980 he was director of Teaching and International Relations at CENIC.

He achieved the rank of Senior Researcher in 1980, and began working at the Instituto de Medicina Tropical ?Pedro Kourí? (IPK) where he first directed the Research subdirection (1980-1985), and from 1985 he was subdirector of Parasitology, until 1999 when he became Consulting Professor, he obtained his definitive retirement in 2012.

He was advisor to 5 Doctoral theses and more than 20 Master's and Specialty theses. His collaborations and expertise as an expert abroad were multiple, which included several countries of the former CAME (URSS, Checoslovaquia, and the RDA), France, Hungría, Etiopía, Viet Nam, Suiza, Nicaragua, República Dominicana, México, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile, among others.

Regarding his participation in Scientific Societies, he belonged to the Internacional Cell Research Organization, UNESCO, the Sociedad Latinoamericana de Parasitología, the Sociedad Cubana de Microbiología y Parasitología, the Sociedad Cubana de Ciencias Fisiológicas and the Sociedad Belga de Medicina Tropical.

He published more than 80 scientific articles, in peer-reviewed journals, most of them international journals or high-impact journals. He was a builder of a generation of researchers in general, and of specialists in Parasitology in particular. The professor is always remembered for his interest in conducting rigorous science, and that constant spirit of searching and analyzing the literature, and his insistence that all his students publish the results of their research in high-impact scientific journals, as well as the importance of constantly seeking funding for research through competitive projects.