2023-09-04 22:08:04
The International Neuromodulation Society awarded the INS 2023 award to American neuroscientist John O’Keefe for inspiring the Colombian scientific community by sharing his knowledge.
His work has helped scientists better understand how the brain works and uncover disease mechanisms that will eventually lead to new therapies.
The INS is made up of physicians, scientists and engineers dedicated to the scientific development and understanding of neuromodulation – the alteration of nerve activity through the delivery of electrical stimulation or chemical agents to specific sites in the body.
On the left John O’Keefe and on the right, William Omar Contreras. | Photo: API
The award was presented at the facilities of the University of Medellín by the president of the International Neuromodulation Society, Colombian neuroscientist William Contreras, who is currently linked to the Nobel organization, as well as leading the Nemod group (Neuromodulation Center), scientific institution specialized in improving the quality of life in patients with severe disorders of aggression, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Parkinson’s, among others.
O’Keefe won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2014 for discovering GPS neurons, whose function allows us to position ourselves in our environment, from inside our homes to the largest and most congested cities.
The award was sculpted by the Santanderean architect Juan José Cobos, who has among his works important monuments of international stature such as the Santísimo in Floridablanca and the battle of Pienta in Charalá.
The award was delivered in the city of Medellín. | Photo: API
Liliana Ramírez, the doctor from Antioquia awarded by the American academy
Dr. Liliana was awarded the Norman Geschwind award by the American Academy of Neurology, a prestigious award for the academy because other people who have been geniuses in cognitive neurology have received it, “for me it was a very honorable recognition, I was the first Latina woman, for me it was breaking a barrier”, the Colombian doctor told SEMANA.
Liliana Ramírez Gómez was born in Medellín in the 1980s. Her story has become a benchmark for self-improvement and achievements: she was one of the daughters of a traditional Paisa couple who had 10 children, studied at a public university and got ahead standing out in the field of medicine as one of the best in her matter in the United States.
“I loved biology, the natural sciences and I also like being with people, helping people,” the doctor told SEMANA. | Photo: Courtesy
“My mom educated us at home. Later, when going to the city, my father worked as a subpoena, in a court, taking the sentence notes in that difficult time in Medellín”, says the doctor during the interview, assuring that they were parents who received “all the love of the world” and made all the sacrifices to educate their children.
Liliana studied at a public school called República Argentina, very close to the Plaza de Flores in Medellín, then she completed her high school at Valeria Londoño and from there she jumped to one of the most important public universities in the country: the University of Antioquia.
“I loved biology, the natural sciences and I also like being with people, helping people, so I knew that medicine was a very good thing because it integrated both things,” the doctor told SEMANA, referring to her experience of choose a career at that time.
In 2005, due to things in life or fate, Liliana did an exchange with Harvard University. Thanks to her impeccable average, she won a scholarship to attend, for three months, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, a internship that helped him delve a little deeper into the world of neurology.
Those three months made Ramírez meet his partner, with whom he now has two children, and who was the main architect of the paisa’s success, since, although she had to return to Colombia following those three months of exchange, the Also an American doctor, who managed to captivate Liliana’s heart, asked her to return to settle permanently in the United States.
“It was like a love story, he convinced me to come to the United States, to study here and well, that’s how it was, we got married,” Liliana told SEMANA, assuring that everything came together: the professional story of continuing to practice law neurological medicine, studying and being able to practice his knowledge, and another the love that convinced him to migrate to the North American country.
She received the Norman Geschwind Award from the American Academy of Neurology. | Photo: Courtesy
Dedicated to cognitive neurology, the doctor said that she has dedicated herself to caring for patients suffering from dementia or cognitive impairment, being the clinical director of the Division of Memory Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she teaches residents.
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