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Science and technology in Venezuela includes research based on exploring Venezuela's diverse ecology and the lives of its indigenous peoples.
Major research institutions include the Central University of Venezuela and the University of the Andes, Venezuela. Notable Venezuelan scientists include nineteenth century botanist Adolf Ernst and the botanist and geographer Alfredo Jahn (1867 - 1940). More recently Augusto Pi Sunyer (1955), Aristides Bastidas (1980), Marcel Roche (1987) and Marisela Salvatierra (2002) have been recipients of UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for promotion of the public understanding of science.
Humberto Fernández-Morán (February 18, 1924 – March 17, 1999) was a Venezuelan research scientist, renowned for inventing the diamond knife or scalpel, significantly advancing the development of electromagnetic lenses for electron microscopy based on superconducting technology, and many other scientific contributions.
Jacinto Convit (September 11, 1913 in Caracas-May 12, 2014) was a Venezuelan medic and scientist, known for developing a vaccine to fight leprosy and his studies to cure different types of cancer. In 1987, he received the Prince of Asturias Award in the Scientific and Technical Research category.
Baruj Benacerraf (Caracas October 29, 1920 – August 2, 2011) was a Venezuelan-born American immunologist, who shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the "discovery of the major histocompatibility complex genes which encode cell surface protein molecules important for the immune system's distinction between self and non-self". His colleagues and shared recipients were Jean Dausset and George Davis Snell.
José Esparza (born in Maracaibo in December 19, 1945) is a Venezuelan American virologist appointed as President of the Global Virus Network since January 2016. He is known for his efforts to promote the international development and testing of vaccines against HIV/AIDS. During 17 years (till 1985) he pursued an academic career at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC). From 1986 to 2014 he worked continuously as a viral vaccine expert and senior public health adviser for international health policy agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. José G. Esparza is currently an adjunct professor of medicine, at the Institute of Human Virology (University of Maryland School of Medicine).
L. Rafael Reif (born August 21, 1950) is a Venezuelan American electrical engineer and academic administrator. He is the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, succeeding Susan Hockfield on July 2, 2012.
The Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC) is a scientific research institute and graduate training in Venezuela founded on February 9, 1959 by government decree, has its origins in the Venezuelan Institute of Neurology and Brain Research (IVNIC) which Dr. Humberto Fernandez Moran founded in 1955.
The Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomia (CIDA), is the main astronomical research body in Venezuela. Venezuela's main astronomical observatory is the Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory, located 3600m above sea level in the Venezuelan Andes. It participates in the Quasar Equatorial Survey Team.
Venezuela has a space agency, Agencia Bolivariana para Actividades Espaciales and control two stationary satellites: Simon Bolivar and Miranda.