María Guadalupe Guzmán Receives L'Oréal-Unesco Award

June 25, 2022

Dr. María Guadalupe Guzmán Tirado, head of the Research, Diagnosis and Reference Center of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine, received at an official ceremony the International L'Oréal-Unesco Prize, Women and Science (2022).

In Paris, Guzmán received along with other scientists the International L'Oréal-Unesco Prize "Women and Science", an award that in its 24th edition recognized female warriors from diverse regions of the planet, who armed with pipettes and petri dishes combat enemies as invisible as they are lethal. "It is a tremendous honor, but above all it is a recognition of all Cuban women dedicated to science, I see it that way," she told Prensa Latina, the director of the Research Center of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine, just minutes before the ceremony at the Unesco headquarters.

According to information provided by Cuba's Permanent Mission to Unesco, during this week the distinguished scientist traveled to Paris, where she presented her achievements in dengue research before the Academy of Sciences of France and the jury of the Prize granted by the L'Oréal Foundation and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

In the presentation, she also shared Cuba's experience in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and the results of Cuban vaccines.

Professor Guzmán Tirado, the first Caribbean woman to win this important award, was recognized for her pioneering work that made it possible to better understand and treat dengue or tropical flu, by understanding its pathogenesis, treatment of its symptoms and its prevention.

Regarding the award, she previously told the Cuban News Agency that she felt moved, "because it is a very important and competitive prize," that recognizes her more than 40 years dedicated to the study of dengue and her contributions that not only influence the Cuban context, but also contribute to strengthening virological diagnosis and laboratory surveillance of arboviruses in the continent.

For her, understanding the disease has been one of her greatest aspirations, and her knowledge has been reflected in the chapter dedicated to dengue in the Encyclopedia of Public Health, in its 2008 and 2016 editions, and in the scientific edition of the Dengue Book published in 2016 and directed at the Hispanic community.

María Guadalupe Guzmán Tirado is president of the Cuban Society of Microbiology and Parasitology; director of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for the study of dengue and its control; Honorary Academic of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba; of the World Academy of Sciences and of the Organization of Women Scientists for the Developing World.

In 2012 she received the Scientific Merit Award from the Ministry of Public Health, the highest distinction granted by that institution and which recognizes the legacy of scientists who have been paradigms in their professional work, she is also an Honorary member of the Cuban Society of Immunology, a member of the Council of the International Society of Infectious Diseases and of the jury that awards the Microbiology Prize "Carlos Juan Finlay", of Unesco.

Additionally, she is the principal investigator of more than 70 national and international projects, Full Professor with more than 130 courses taught in Cuba, the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and author of more than 300 scientific articles and short publications, including two hypotheses, seven patents and 20 book chapters.

The L'Oréal Foundation is committed to helping women express their potential, regain control of their destiny and achieve a positive impact on society, through three areas of intervention: scientific research, solidarity beauty and climate change.