Last days to apply for the Dr. Jorge Rosenkranz Medical Research Award

The countdown has begun. The Dr. Jorge Rosenkranz Medical Research Award, one of the most important distinctions for scientific and medical talent in Mexico, is in its final call for applications. Researchers and healthcare professionals have until August 22nd to submit their work and be recognized for their contributions to medicine.

Organized by Roche Mexico in collaboration with FUNSALUD, the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico, and the AMFEM (Mexican Federation of Medical Researchers), the award seeks to promote projects that address the country's most relevant health challenges.

Since its creation in 1984, the Rosenkranz Award has recognized more than 182 scientific projects developed in public and private institutions throughout the Republic, focusing on key areas such as cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, rare diseases, public health, and infectious diseases.

A stimulus for research and new generations

Dr. Maryet Pérez Barahona, medical director of Roche Pharma Mexico, tells El Economista that this award is a pillar for scientific development, because "the most important challenge is financing... ( ) That is why this award contributes to continue promoting research."

He said that more than competing, it's about encouraging continued research, promoting the importance of being at the forefront and within clinical practice, and providing a space for teaching and academia. These are part of the values of this award.

But the award not only offers a financial incentive of 250,000 Mexican pesos for the winning project in each of the five categories, but also an invaluable academic recognition that can open doors to new opportunities, as happened with Dr. José Manuel Arreola Guerra in the 2023 edition, who won the award in the clinical category for determining the incidence and etiology of nephropathy in a hot water sector and today continues to investigate this incidence in young people, but is also now the president of the Mexican Institute of Nephrological Research (IMIN) and director of the Institute of Comprehensive Care for Kidney Diseases (INAER).

In addition, the Award maintains its international scholarship for medical residents pursuing specialties in oncology, neurology, hematology, hemato-oncology, rheumatology, infectious disease, ophthalmology, molecular biology, pulmonology, and internal medicine. This scholarship grants 110,000 Mexican pesos for a short-term academic stay abroad.

Pérez Barahona points out that something very valuable about the award is that it involves Mexican researchers who contribute to changing the quality of life of patients, "their research can serve as that first step for future research, to make decisions within the health system, public policies, because Mexico has the great potential of having not only great researchers, but also institutions that have the highest academic level to attend to the diversity of our population... ( ) There is nothing more important or more valuable than being able to generate local research that truly represents the needs of the country."

An award that evolves with medicine

The 2025 edition recognizes research in five key categories: Clinical Research, Basic Research, Biotechnology Research, Epidemiology and Public Health, and the recently added Molecular Diagnostics. This last category reflects the importance of tools that enable earlier and more accurate disease detection.

"The biggest challenge today is that life expectancy has increased. We are now more elderly, and as we grow older, the likelihood of a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, diabetes, hypertension, cardiometabolic diseases, and cancer increases. So, this need to live longer is a challenge for the future.

That also implies working so that at that age our quality of life is better and that is why at Roche we are committed to continuing research in these areas, to find solutions that can increasingly improve the quality of life of patients, that can be even more effective, that can have fewer adverse events... ( ) Look for those solutions, not only innovative, but also that respond to these needs of patients."

The Roche representative concludes with a call to the medical and research community: "We still have two weeks left, we invite you not to wait until the end... ( ) It's a good time to give the final push," so that the quality of the submitted works will be an incentive to continue promoting research in Mexico.

The call closes on August 22, 2025, at 6:00 PM. Interested parties can view the rules and submit their projects on the official award website: www.premiorosenkranzmexico.com .

Who was Jorge Rosenkranz?

He was a Hungarian-born Mexican scientist and a pioneer in the field of steroid chemistry, utilizing native Mexican plant sources as raw materials. He was born in Hungary, studied in Switzerland, and emigrated to America, eventually settling in Mexico.

At the Syntex Corporation in Mexico City, Rosenkranz assembled a research group of organic chemists that included future leaders from around the world, such as Carl Djerassi, Luis E. Miramontes, and Alejandro Zaffaroni. Under Dr. Rosenkranz's direction, revolutionary advances in the understanding of steroids and their production occurred. Syntex synthesized a progestin used in some of the first combined oral contraceptive pills and in numerous useful steroids.