spainspain news property featuresCelebrating 10 years online - 1999-2009
1.54 million unique visitors in 2008
Last Updated: Jul 4, 2009 - 9:33 PM CET
Spain Forum Spain Forumspain rss

spain directory



Advanced Search | Latest Links
spain features

spain news
Typically Spanish - Spain Features : Profiles

Bernat Soria Escoms: Spanish Health Minister
larger | smaller
By h.b. - Aug 25, 2007 - 12:45 PM
The Spanish Minister for Health, Bernat Soria - Photo EFE
The Spanish Minister for Health, Bernat Soria - Photo EFE
enlarge photo
The new Spanish Health Minister is a world authority on stem cell research

Bernat Soria Escoms, considered as one of the world’s leading experts in stem cell research, was named as Spain’s new Health Minister on 6th July 2007, when his predecessor, Elena Salgado, was moved to Public Administration. One of his first comments after hearing of his appointment was that it came as ‘somewhat of a surprise.’

Born in Carlet, Valencia, on 7th May 1951, Bernat Soria is married with two children.
He qualified as a Doctor of Medicine at Valencia University in 1974, achieving his Doctorate in 1978, and Post-Doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, in Göttingen, Germany, in 1980.

His resumé over the following years provides impressive reading:

Senior Research Associate in the Biophysics Department of East Anglia University, in Norwich, UK, from 1982 until 1984.
Associate Professor in the Biochemistry and Physiology Departments of the Schools of Medicine of first Valencia University and then Alicante University between 1982 and 1985. He was also Vice Dean of Valencia’s School of Medicine from May 1983 until October 1984, holding the same position, as well as Acting Dean, in Alicante between December 1985 and March 1986.
Coordinator of the National Agency of Evaluation between 1991 and 1994.
Chairman of Alicante University’s Physiology Department between 1990 and 1997, as well as Full Professor of Physiology and Biophysics from 1986 to 2005.

Bernat Soria was Professor of Physiology at the Miguel Hernández University in Elche from the moment the new university was created in 1997, and also set up the University’s Institute of Bioengineering. His team at the Institute was the first in the world to obtain insulin-producing cells from embryonic stem cells in mice, and later went on in 2001 to successfully apply the same technique with human stem cells – unavailable in Spain at the time, the cells the team used in the research came from the United States.
Soria told the press at the time that Spain’s government told him to discontinue his research with human embryonic stem cells: he decided to accept a post as Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore in 2002 to allow him to continue his studies, while at the same time continuing research in Spain with mouse stem cells.

This eminent researcher was the first President of the European Stem Cell Network created in 2004, and was, until his new appointment as Health Minister, Director of CABIMER – the Andalucía Centre for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Sevilla, the largest such centre in Spain, and the first state-funded institute dedicated to stem cell research.
CABIMER, which officially opened in March 2006, is the result of an agreement in 2004 between the Junta de Andalucía, the CSIC Higher Council for Scientific Research, and the Pablo de Olavide University in Sevilla, where Soria holds a Professorship in Physiology. It is one of four centres which the government authorised to carry out stem cell research.

Bernat Soria Escoms, who is the author of three books and has had some one hundred research papers published in scientific journals, is President of the Spanish Diabetes Association and has led a project for pancreatic islet transplants at the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga.

His work in his field has been recognised with a number of awards, including the Gold Medal and Award from the Royal Academy of Medicine, the National Research Award from the Spanish Diabetes Association, and the Gold Medal of Andalucía.


 mobile |  email this article |  printer friendly page

 del.icio.us |  digg |  technorati |  yahoo | StumbleUpon Toolbar Stumble It!
Add to Facebook Facebook | Reddit Reddit | Seed it! Newsvine | Meanme Meneame | Wikio Wikio
Blink Blink | Google Bookmarks Google | Fresqui Fresqui | msn reporters MSN reporters | live spaces Live Spaces
Nt Space My Space | Fark Fark | Mixx Mixx | Twitter Twitter



Spain Features : Profiles

Readers' comments:
ROSA MEZA
20 Sep 2008, 05:53
Hi; Iam mother of a diabetic boy. We notice his diabetes since 3 months. He is almost 4 years old, and I have his stem cells.PLEASE help me to find the cure for my little boy. Thank You very much. God bless you. I´ll be waiting for your reply. THANK YOU; AGAIN
Sheila Bloomquist
07 Nov 2008, 06:16
Estimado Ministro Soria,
Soy Medico de Familia entrenado en los EEUU, pero anteriormente he vivido en Madrid. Desde 1999 estoy en proceso de covalidar los estudios del las carerras incluyendo lo de medicina, sin embargo me han paralizado exigiendo que repito salud publica e epidimiologia aunque fueron realizados. Ya tengo mi especialidad hecho en Medicina Familiar, y se que hay una carencia de 25,000 medicos de familia en Espana. Que puedo hacer para superar las tonterias del MEC para por fin realizar la covalidacion completa.Gracias por su tiempo, Dra Sheila E. Bloomquist - Arizona
Maria Guerra Overton
13 Nov 2008, 18:55

Soy una investigadora, en los ultimos meses y como consequencia de mis experiencias personal, me he dedicado a buscar la razon de los problemas que ese tipo de insulina causa al paciente. He encontrado muchisimas quejas. La descripcion de los sintomas era similares a mispropios sintomas, sin embargo, nadie parecia enforcarse en una razon.Por que? Que le faltaba a la insulina sintetica o que la sobraba, o siera todo consecuencia de la falta de control de calidad. Recientemente he hallado dos explicaciones.
Una la falta de Peptida C, en la insulina sintentia,
\Otra, el uso de un tipo de sodio.-NE= en la insulina sintetica, esto explicaria la hipertension, y otros efectos
Las he encontrado en sitios Ingleses, y Americanos, pero nada en castellano.
Siendo su excelecnia un bioquimico,
Cual es la perspectiva de la Sociedad Espanola de la ucha contra la diabetes?
Hay sition espanoles, en castellano, donde se pueda ampliar esta informacion, o se cuentre corraboracion a estas teorias?
Gracias
MGO
,
Please keep to the subject. Opinions published here are of our visitors, not the Typically Spanish team. Comments which go against Spanish laws or which are libellous are not allowed. We reserve the right to delete any comment we wish.

Por favor, céntrate en el tema. Son las opiniones de los internautas, y no las de Typically Spanish. No está permitido verter comentarios contrarios a las leyes españolas o injuriantes. Reservado el derecho a eliminar los comentarios que consideremos fuera de tema.