INTER-AMERICAN WORKSHOP ON ENVIRONMENTAL DATA ACCESS

EDUARDO MOACYR KRIEGER

Prof. Eduardo Moacyr Krieger is one of the most prominent Brazilian physiologists. He was born in Cerro Largo, Rio Grande do Sul on June 27, 1928. In 1953, during the last term of his medical course at the Medical School (Faculdade de Medicina) de Porto Alegre, working at the Cardiology Unit of Prof. Rubens Maciel, he already decided to pursue a university career in the clinical area.

In 1954, he started the program for training new physiologists created by the Brazilian Agency for Training Higher Education Personnel (CAPE in Porto Alegre), supervised by the Argentinean physiologists under Prof. Bernardo Houssay's leadership (Nobel Prize, 1947).

He worked on experimental hypertension with Prof. Eduardo Braun Menendez in Porto Alegre and Buenos Aires, and this represented the major influence for his choice for a scientific career. He completed his scientific formation in cardiovascular physiology with Prof. W. Hamilton in Augusta, Georgia, in the USA from 1956 to 1957.

Back to Brazil, he started working at the new School of Medicine of the University of São Paulo- USP (Ribeirão Preto Campus), in the Department of Physiology, directed by Prof. Covian, a neurophysiologist, who participated in Prof. Houssay's group. In Ribeirão Preto, he developed his scientific career from Assistant Professor to Full Professor (1974), creating a cardiovascular physiology group which was responsible for the formation of new groups that now act in several Brazilian Universities such as Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, Rio Grande do Sul and Pernambuco.

His main research field was the study in experimental hypertension models, the mechanisms of blood pressure regulation, mainly the neurogenic mechanisms. He described a sino-aortic denervation method in the rat, which is worldwide employed. His studies on the baroreceptor adaptation in hypertension and hypotension are widely recognized.

He was pioneer using the rat as a model for the study of blood pressure regulation in sleep and exercise, as well as in the recording of the sympathetic activity in physiological conditions. In collaboration with Prof. Sérgio Ferreira in the last phase of the discovery of the converting enzyme inhibitors, extracted from the bothrop venom, he demonstrated his efficacy in the reversion of experimental hypertension.

Along with his activities as a professor and researcher, he also worked in the development of Higher Education and Science in the Brazil. He participated in the university reform of USP from 1968 to 1969, and cooperated with the commissions of the National Research Council- CNPq, CAPES and the São Paulo State Foundation for Science Support- FAPESP. He was the President of the Brazilian Society of Physiology and the first President of the Federation Societies of Experimental Biology. In the hypertension field, he was the President of the Inter-American Society of Hypertension, and first President of the Brazilian Society of Hypertension. He was until recently one of the three editors who founded and directed the Brazilian Journal of Medical and Scientific Research, one of the scientific journals of best quality in the country. He is currently the President of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

He has published more than 120 complete works in international journals. Under his orientation, 19 Masters and 26 PhDs were graduated. Since his retirement from the Faculty of Ribeirão Preto in 1985, he has been working as Head of the Hypertension Unit at the Heart Institute- INCOR, USP, having under his direction a multidisciplinary research group, including molecular biologists, physiologists and clinical doctors.

Along with his activities as a professor and researcher, he became involved with Science and Technology planning and policy making in Brazil and abroad. Since 1992 he is the President of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. He was also the Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology in Developing Countries (COSTED) of the International Council of Science- from 1998 until 2002.

Due to his prestige as a scientist and international science Policy maker he was elected Co-chairman of the InterAcademy Pannel- IAP and member of the Executive Committee of the InterAcademy Council-IAC.

Among several International Societies he is member of the Inter-American Society of Hypertension 1981, the, Council of High Blood Pressure Research, American Heart Association and of the International Society of Hypertension and the Third World Academy of Sciences.

The recognition of his contribution was expressed in several prizes and awards, among which the following may be mentioned: the Scientific Merit Award "Ordem Nacional do Mérito Científico Gran-Cruz", Ministry of Science and Technology; The Lifetime Achievement Award in the Field of Hypertension, Inter-American Society of Hypertension, the "Almirante Álvaro Alberto" Award in Medicine from the National Research Council (most important award of the Ministry of Science and Technology) and the "Anísio Teixeira" Award in Science and Education from the Ministry of Education (most important award of the Ministry of Education).

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