The financial counsellor and director of Monetary Affairs and Capital Markets of the International Monetary Fund, José Viñals; the full university professor on Cell Biology and Parasitology and coordinator of the R&D group of Molecular Neurobiology of the Universitat de València, Isabel Fariñas; and the Legal Bar of Valencia are three of the people awarded in the XX edition of the Universidad-Sociedad Awards.
The main objective of these awards, organised by the board of trustees of the Universitat de València, is to recognise the work in favour of university-society cooperation from a university perspective but also from the business world.
Recognition to a career
José Viñals Íñiguez, financial counsellor and director of Monetary Affairs of the International Monetary Fund, has been the winner of the Alumni Plus category of these awards. The main objective of these awards is to recognise the professional, academic or business excellence of former students of the Universitat de València, with contrasted careers that show an exemplary, but especially relevant contribution to the progress of society.
The jury has valued the successful career of José Viñals, as well as his relevant contribution to research in macroeconomics policy. The director of Monetary Affairs of the IMF studied Economic Sciences at Universitat de València. When he left the Universitat, he made a Master’s degree in Economics at London School of Economics and got his PhD in Economy by Harvard University. He received King James I prize for Economy in 2001.
Research and Development Category
The full university professor of Cell Biology and Parasitology of the R&D group of Molecular Neurobiology of the Universitat de València, Isabel Fariñas, is the winner of the category of the people awarded in the Research and Development category. Her research activity focuses in the development and analysis of genetic models in Parkinson and brain repair by means of modified stem cells.
The jury has recognised the work of her multidisciplinary research group in orienting the basic knowledge they possess in the search for applied solutions in the field of biomedicine and health and the fact that they have signed several agreements with companies for the study and viability of the research results implementation.
Among many publications of excellence, Isabel Fariñas is the inventor of a patent named “use of the PEDF factor to induce the self-renovation of stem cells”. This PEDF molecule (pigmented epithelium derived factor) promotes the self-renovation of neural stem cells and acts as neuroprotection and angiogenesis inhibitor.
The Legal Bar, Research Career Prize
The Legal Bar of Valencia (ICAV) is the winning entity in the Collaboration Career Category. The jury has highlighted the altruism and constant collaboration of the Legal Bar with the Faculty of Law, which started more than 70 years ago. The jury has also pointed out the extent of the collaboration fields and the benefits obtained from this collaboration, which they have sum up like “a support for quality and excellence of the legal profession for a better legal advice for the citizenship”.
The work placement of the students from the Universitat de València in professional offices dealing with all the field of laws as well as collaboration in the management, organisation and coordination of the University Master’s Degree in Law -which prepares for professional exercise- and of other postgraduate and specialisation studies are the core ideas in which collaboration is based.
The Board of Trustees awards the talent of students and professors
These awards also reward the talent of the students of the Universitat de València, recognising the contribution of ideas and innovative projects of this collective in the field of universidad-sociedad collaboration.
This edition had the proposals of Andrea Ortiz, Alberto Corbí, Mª Pilar Domínguez and Cristina Gaona.
The project of Ángel Esparcia has been rewarded with the Alumno Excelente award of the Universitat de València 2014-2015, with an allocation of 1,000 euros, for his project ‘Efectos de las TIC en la adherencia a un tratamiento de ejercicio físico: app vs papel como soporte para el usuario’.
On the other hand, within the category Teaching Excellence, awards aimed at academics and recognized by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of the Generalitat Valenciana, teachers winners have been: Pascual Medina, from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry; Amparo Oliver, from Psychology; Santiago Ibáñez, from the Faculty of Law; Carlos Peraita, from Economy, and Carlos Pérez, from the School of Engineering.
Last update: 29 de december de 2015 08:00.
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