News Release

Castro, baseball and chemistry: nurturing Cuban-American scientific partnerships

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Chemical Society

ORLANDO, Fla., April 7 — An island of about 11 million people, Cuba is better known for its Communist leader and its baseball prodigies than for its scientific research. Yet scientists in Cuba, which boasts some 230 research centers nationwide, have developed a vaccine for meningitis, improved therapies for speech- and hearing-impaired children and enhanced treatments for sleep apnea and psychiatric disorders.

It is estimated that 160,000 people have graduated with degrees in chemistry in Cuba in the past 30 years. Cuban scientists, at the forefront of research in areas such as oceanography and marine studies, biotechnology, natural products chemistry and nanotechnology, have only recently begun collaborating with American scientists, and such work is still rare.

As part of its 223rd national meeting, April 7-11, in Orlando, Fla., the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, will examine scientific connections between the U.S. and Cuba. Cuban scientists and scientists with Cuban connections will discuss topics ranging from chemical education to fostering Cuban-American research partnerships.

WHAT:
U.S.-Cuba Connections

WHEN:
Sunday, April 7, 1:30 - 5 p.m.

WHERE:
Orange County Convention Center, Room 307D

WHO:
Organizer and presider: Zafra Lerman, Columbia College, Chicago
Morton Hoffman, Boston University
Ernest Eliel, University of North Carolina
Luis Echegoyen, University of Miami
Roberto Cao, University of Havana, Cuba
Hessy Taft, St. John’s University, New York
Luis Bello, Universidad de Oriente, Cuba
Thomas Manning, Valdosta State University
Ellen Burns, College of Wooster

Media wishing to attend this event must contact the ACS press office in advance at 407-685-8070 or 202-872-4445.

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