The award is presented annually by the Inter-American Network of Academies of Sciences, which selects the winner from a list of nominees put forward by each member country. María Eugenia was nominated by the National Academy of Sciences.
The award includes a prize of US$3,000, which María Eugenia will use to support members of her laboratory in attending the International Congress on Toxoplasmosis, the field of study to which they are dedicated.
Her lab at the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo focuses on parasites of medical and veterinary importance, collectively known as apicomplexans. These include pathogens that cause diseases in humans, such as toxoplasmosis and malaria, and in livestock, such as neosporosis and cryptosporidiosis.
The team’s research aims to understand the mechanisms these parasites use to multiply, with the goal of identifying new drugs to block this process and prevent the diseases they cause.
