Rubén de los Ángeles Rodríguez Gavaldá

He was born in the La Víbora neighborhood. A graduate with a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of La Habana in 1941, he began his professional career at the "Ángel Arturo Aballí" Children's Hospital (Anti-Tuberculosis Hospital of La Habana at that time) and at a state Allergology clinic where he acquired laboratory knowledge in the preparation of allergens and aerobiology, in addition to alternating his work at the Quinta Dependientes hospital, today known as the October 10 hospital.

In 1960, he organized the Allergy and Immunology Service and Laboratory at "William Soler" Hospital, serving as its Head from its foundation until 2003.

He taught Marxism and History of Medicine at the "Victoria de Girón" Institute of Basic and Preclinical Sciences. Since 1968, he introduced to Cuba the knowledge acquired on Basic Immunology, teaching courses in hospitals throughout the country.

Throughout his years of professional practice at "William Soler" Hospital, he trained more than 70 residents in Allergology and contributed to the training of many health professionals throughout the country.

As a postgraduate instructor, he has been tutor and/or advisor for more than one hundred Residency Completion Works (TTR) in Allergology, Immunology, Pediatrics, and other specialties.

In the 1980s, he participated in Expert Health meetings of the Non-Aligned Movement, as Advisor to the Ministry of Public Health on matters of Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (CTPD), and in the World Health Assembly, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, as Advisor on Breastfeeding and Nuclear War Prevention topics.

He has been a member of the National Commission of Medical Ethics since its foundation in 1983. In the 1980s, he provided advisory services through the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) at an event in Florence, Italy, regarding prevention of childhood allergies.

From 1949 to 1954, he specialized in Allergology at the Allergy Clinic located at the National Anti-Tuberculosis Council of Marianao. In 1955, he traveled to the USA, where he completed a one-year Pediatrics residency at Brooklyn Hospital in New York.

In 1967, he enjoyed a scholarship from the French government at the Institute of Immunobiology in Paris, and upon his return introduced to Cuba the basic knowledge of Immunology at a time of maximum scientific isolation for the country. On July 10, 1987, he was granted the title of Second-Degree Specialist in Allergology.

There are many investigations conducted throughout his entire professional life, with emphasis on the methodology for preparing the allergenic extract of house dust, the introduction of bacterial vaccines by sublingual route since the 1970s, and the metaspecific and adjuvant vaccine, also by this route.

SCIENTIFIC DEGREES:
- Doctor of Medical Sciences, February 1, 1981.
- Member of the Permanent Court of Clinical Sciences for awarding of Scientific Degrees since its inception in 1987, and currently its President.
- Researcher of Merit, a condition granted by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment on November 25, 2003.

SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES:
NATIONAL:
- Full Member of the Board of Directors of the Cuban Society of History of Medicine, since its foundation and its President since 1996.
- Member of the Cuban Society of Allergy since its foundation, holding the status of Full Member since January 31, 2002.
- Vice President of the Cuban Society of Immunology, also since its foundation.
- Member of the Cuban Society of Pediatrics.

FOREIGN:
- Honorary Member of the Dominican Society of Pediatrics, a condition granted on August 26, 1989.
- Local Coordinator of the Latin American Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology for the study of asthma mortality in Latin America.
- Member of the International Association of Asthmology (INTERASMA)
- Member of the Latin American Association of Pediatrics.
- Member of the ALAFE Allergy Committee and promoter of its establishment.

RECOGNITIONS AND HONORS
Multiple recognitions have been received by this physician, an example of dedication and humanism, including the following:
- Carlos Juan Finlay de Barrés Order, granted by the Council of State on March 19, 1993.
- National Vanguard of the National Union of Health Workers (SNTS) in 1993 and 1994.
- Medals for 15 (1981) and 30 (1996) years of collaboration with the Ministry of Interior.
- Recognition for exceptional merits in the struggle for peace in the 20th century, granted by the Scientific Commission of the Cuban Movement for Peace and the Sovereignty of Peoples on December 17, 1999.
- Recognition as "Distinguished in Public Health" for outstanding scientific and social contribution to Cuban Public Health on the occasion of the centennial of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), granted on December 2, 2002.
- Special Award from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Latin American Association of Immunology (ALAI) as recognition from the Latin American community of immunologists, granted on December 13, 2002.
- Recognition for support provided to the Ministry of Public Health, for sharing teachings and working with dedication, commitment and professionalism, and for being an example of Cuban medical ethics, granted by the Minister of Public Health on March 31, 2004.
- Recognition for example and teachings, for modesty and simplicity, for devotion to the people and the Homeland, granted by the Ministry of Public Health on the occasion of my 90th birthday on October 17, 2004.
- Recognition as Father of Allergy in Cuba, granted by the Provincial Allergy Group in Camagüey on October 5, 2007.

He died on June 7, 2012 at the age of 97 at a time when an important congress of Cuban allergists was taking place.