Thesis Award for research into improved vaccination against malaria
The Thesis Award Competition organised by the Basque Research portal has been judged. This year a total of 40 theses were presented for the Award and from these the panel unanimously chose Angel Montero Carcabosos' work as the winner of the First Prize. The thesis was, according to the panel, the best presented work for publishing. The panel took the following criteria into account in making their choice of the winner: suitability and attractiveness of the title of the thesis, writing style, clear presentation of the main points of the thesis, technical efforts made and, finally, the interest of publishing in more than one language. Taking these criteria into account, the theses were awarded points on a scale from 0 to 100, with special emphasis put on the writing style and the ability to communicate well the essence of the thesis, independently of the theme. Angel Monteros' work, presenting research carried out on a vaccine for malaria, includes previous research in the field and the investigation procedure and results of the present study. The research was carried out at the Pharmacy Faculty on the Gasteiz campus of the University of the Basque Country. Thus, the First Prize, a laptop computer, goes to Angel Montero Carcaboso., ,Research to improve Patarroyos vaccine,Angel Montero carried out his research on a vaccine developed by the Colombian researcher Manuel Patarroyo. This had been developed in the 90s but the results of subsequent clinical trials were disappointing. As a result, the World Health Organisation withdrew their support for the vaccination research. The Colombian researcher then approached the University of the Basque Country with the intention of working on his improved SPf66 vaccine. Here, Angel Montero worked on the enhancement of the medium used for the administration of the vaccine. This research soon revealed that changing the medium considerably augmented the effect of the vaccine. Moreover, he investigated new methods for administering the vaccine without recourse to a syringe. As a result, Angel Montero has introduced a number of improvements to one of the best-known vaccines for malaria. Ecological paintings,The Users Award on the other hand, was won by the chemist Pedro Ilundain Aranburu. This prize is awarded by the votes from Basque Research users. In this case, it involved a PhD thesis on the production of more ecological acrylic and vinyl paints. Pedro Ilundain carried out his research at the Chemistry Faculty at the San Sebastian campus. His research involved obtaining paints which are less damaging to health and to the environment. More specifically, the researcher analysed the reactions in the synthesis of the paints. He proposed a number of improvements in the reaction process: on the one hand, an optimisation of the initiator systems and on the other, he developed a mathematical model for measuring the compounds which are left over without reacting and generated by volatile compounds. The research thus involves direct industrial application given that it proposes methods for the production of more ecological paints. Finally, the panel wishes to underline the public interest of all the participating theses in the Basque Research Thesis Competition. The winning entries as well as all the other research projects and can be viewed until the 1 July at http://www.basqueresearch.com.The members of the adjudication panel were: Aitziber Agirre Ruiz de Arakaute: Doctor in biochemistry. Producer and presenter of the science and technology programme TEKNOPOLIS.,Guillermo Roa Zubia: Doctor in chemistry. Science Editor of the magazine, Elhuyar Zientzia eta Teknika.,Eider Carton Virto: Chemistry graduate. Director of the magazine, Elhuyar Zientzia eta Teknika.,Garazi Andonegi Beristain: Technical Engineer. Director of the Basque Research portal. ,
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