Dr. Rafael Palacios (2015 to date)

Rafael Palacios obtained the M.D. degree in 1969 from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM); and the Ph.D. degree in 1970 under the mentorship of Dr Guillermo Soberon (UNAM). He made a postdoctoral training in Stanford University with Dr Robert Schimke from 1971 to 1973. Since his return to Mexico he has worked in UNAM as a Principal Investigator. He is currently Honorary Professor (Professor Emeritus Active) and Coordinator of the International Laboratory for Human Genome Research (LIIGHUNAM). Together with other Scientists he has participated in major projects for the Development of Mexican Science in the fields of Molecular Biology and of Genomic Sciences. He has received several National and International awards, including the National Price of the Mexican Academy of Sciences (1979), the UNAM Research Price (1986), the Sciences and Arts National Price (1994), the Third World Academy of Sciences International Award (2003). He has been President of three International Meetings and has been in the Board of Directors of three International Scientific Societies. In 2006 he was elected Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. His research has focused in the Dynamics of the Genome, using as models the genomes of different microorganisms as well as the human genome. The biography of Rafael Palacios has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scences (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105(3): 839841, 2008).