Venezuelan physician and scientist
In this
Spanish name
, the first or paternal
surname
is
Convit
and the second or maternal family name is
Garcia
.
Jacinto Convit
|
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|
Born
| (
1913-09-11
)
11 September 1913
|
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Died
| 12 May 2014
(2014-05-12)
(aged 100)
Caracas, Venezuela
|
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Nationality
| Venezuelan
|
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Alma mater
| Central University of Venezuela
(UCV),
Caracas
,
Venezuela
|
---|
Known for
| Development of anti-leprosy vaccine and studies to cure different cancers
|
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Spouse
| Rafaela Marotta D’Onofrio
|
---|
Children
| Francisco Convit
Oscar Convit
Antonio Convit
Rafael Convit
|
---|
Parent(s)
| Flora Garcia Marrero (mother)
Francesc Convit i Marti (father)
|
---|
Awards
| Prince of Asturias Award, Technical and Scientific Research (1987)
Premio Mexico de Ciencia y Tecnologia
(1990)
|
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Jacinto Convit Garcia
(11 September 1913 ? 12 May 2014) was a Venezuelan physician and scientist, known for developing a vaccine to prevent
leprosy
and his studies to treat cancer. He played a role in founding Venezuela's National Institute of Biomedicine and held many leprosy-related positions. Among Convit's many honors for his work on leprosy and tropical diseases was Spain's
Prince of Asturias Award
in the Scientific and Technical Research category and France's
Legion of Honor
. In 1988, Convit was nominated for a
Nobel Prize in Medicine
for his experimental anti-leprosy vaccine.
Biography
[
edit
]
The son of Francesc Convit i Marti, a Spaniard from the region of Catalonia who was a naturalized Venezuelan citizen, Jacinto Convit Garcia was born in La Pastora,
Libertador Municipality
,
Caracas
in 1913. His mother was Flora Garcia Marrero, a Venezuelan with Canarian roots.
[1]
Convit began his studies in the Caracas School and continued in the
Andres Bello
lyceum.
[2]
He was a pupil of
Romulo Gallegos
in philosophy and mathematics. Inspired by people with
leprosy
, he entered medical school at
Central University of Venezuela
(UCV) in 1932. He earned his title as a Medical Science Doctor in 1938.
[3]
Convit began his teaching career in 1940 and was appointed Head of the Dermatology Clinic in 1950. In 1965, his work at the Dermatology Clinic was recognized by the US Board of Dermatology.
[4]
At the same time, he worked for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Venezuela.
[5]
He subsequently played a major role in founding the National Institute of Dermatology (now called the National Institute of Biomedicine) in 1972.
[4]
In 1968, Convit was elected president of the
International Leprosy Association
(ILA) and was re-elected in 1973.
[5]
In 1971, Convit was named by the WHO as Director of the Co-operative Centre for the Study and Histological Classification of Leprosy.
[6]
In 1976, Convit was elected Director of the Pan American Research and Training in Leprosy and Tropical Diseases.
[4]
He was also named president of the
International Journal of Leprosy
.
[7]
In 1987, Convit added killed
Mycobacterium leprae
to the
BCG vaccine
. The combined vaccine was tested worldwide, but was not more effective than regular BCG. In 1988, the Venezuelan government nominated Convit for a
Nobel Prize
. A vaccine for
leishmaniasis
was later developed using Convit's method.
[2]
He also worked on
onchocerciasis
,
mycosis
, and other tropical diseases.
[4]
On June 7, 2010, a Venezuelan newspaper incorrectly announced the successful development by Convit of a new
cancer vaccine
intended to prevent colon, stomach and breast cancer. Venezuela's National Institute of Biomedicine soon published a note clarifying that they have been working for the previous three years on a vaccine against cancer and it is still in development. During this time they have been evaluating a small group of 23 patients, mostly breast cancer and a few of colon, stomach and brain cancers. They have been giving patients an experimental model of immunotherapy against cancer, which have had encouraging results. This vaccine is based on the idea that cancerous cells appear and propagate because the body does not detect them. A sample of the tumour mixed with
formalin
and
BCG
marks the malignant cells so the immune system might react and attack the cancer.
[8]
Death
[
edit
]
Convit
turned 100
in 2013.
[9]
He died on 12 May 2014.
[2]
Described as a popular hero, he never charged a patient for the care he gave. Convit published his last study at age 100 in 2013.
[2]
Honours
[
edit
]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
In 2013 an
homonymous documentary film
about his life directed by
Sergio Monsalve
was released. The documentary was screened at the XI Venezuelan Film Festival in 2015.
[11]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
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Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research
|
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- 1981:
Alberto Sols
- 1982:
Manuel Ballester
- 1983:
Luis Antonio Santalo Sors
- 1984:
Antonio Garcia-Bellido
- 1985:
David Vazquez Martinez
and
Emilio Rosenblueth
- 1986:
Antonio Gonzalez Gonzalez
- 1987:
Jacinto Convit
and
Pablo Rudomin
- 1988:
Manuel Cardona
and
Marcos Moshinsky
- 1989:
Guido Munch
- 1990:
Santiago Grisolia
and
Salvador Moncada
- 1991:
Francisco Bolivar Zapata
- 1992:
Federico Garcia Moliner
- 1993:
Amable Linan
- 1994:
Manuel Patarroyo
- 1995:
Manuel Losada Villasante
and
Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
of Costa Rica
- 1996:
Valentin Fuster
- 1997:
Atapuerca
research team
- 1998:
Emilio Mendez Perez
and
Pedro Miguel Echenique Landiribar
- 1999:
Ricardo Miledi
and
Enrique Moreno Gonzalez
- 2000:
Robert Gallo
and
Luc Montagnier
- 2001:
Craig Venter
,
John Sulston
,
Francis Collins
,
Hamilton Smith
, and
Jean Weissenbach
- 2002:
Lawrence Roberts
,
Robert E. Kahn
,
Vinton Cerf
, and
Tim Berners-Lee
- 2003:
Jane Goodall
- 2004:
Judah Folkman
,
Tony Hunter
,
Joan Massague
,
Bert Vogelstein
, and
Robert Weinberg
- 2005:
Antonio Damasio
- 2006:
Juan Ignacio Cirac
- 2007:
Peter Lawrence
and
Gines Morata
- 2008:
Sumio Iijima
,
Shuji Nakamura
,
Robert Langer
,
George M. Whitesides
, and
Tobin Marks
- 2009:
Martin Cooper
and
Raymond Tomlinson
- 2010:
David Julius
,
Baruch Minke
, and
Linda Watkins
- 2011:
Joseph Altman
,
Arturo Alvarez-Buylla
, and
Giacomo Rizzolatti
- 2012:
Gregory Winter
and
Richard A. Lerner
- 2013:
Peter Higgs
,
Francois Englert
, and
European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN
- 2014:
Avelino Corma Canos
,
Mark E. Davis
, and
Galen D. Stucky
|
|
Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research
|
---|
- 2015:
Emmanuelle Charpentier
and
Jennifer Doudna
- 2016:
Hugh Herr
- 2017:
Rainer Weiss
,
Kip S. Thorne
,
Barry C. Barish
, and the
LIGO
Scientific Collaboration
- 2018:
Svante Paabo
- 2019:
Joanne Chory
and
Sandra Myrna Diaz
- 2020:
Yves Meyer
,
Ingrid Daubechies
,
Terence Tao
, and
Emmanuel Candes
- 2021:
Katalin Kariko
,
Drew Weissman
,
Philip Felgner
,
U?ur ?ahin
,
Ozlem Tureci
,
Derrick Rossi
, and
Sarah Gilbert
- 2022:
Geoffrey Hinton
,
Yann LeCun
,
Yoshua Bengio
, and
Demis Hassabis
- 2023:
Jeffrey I. Gordon
,
Everett Peter Greenberg
, and
Bonnie Bassler
- 2024:
Daniel J. Drucker
,
Jeffrey M. Friedman
,
Joel F. Habener
,
Jens Juul Holst
, and
Svetlana Mojsov
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International
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National
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Other
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