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In 2006, Prof. Sorokin Was Elected Vice President of the Governing Commission of FLACEIS, Latin American Forum of Ethics Committees in Health Research

WASHINGTON, DC, September 26, 2005—Today, before an international forum of high-level government health officials, ambassadors, and other VIPs, a young researcher, professor Patricia Sorokin of Argentina, accepted the Manuel Velasco Suárez Award in Bioethics for her proposed research and its potential in advancing the field of bioethics in Latin America.

A member of the Board of Trustees of the Pan American Health and Education Foundation presented a certificate of honor and the grant to professor Sorokin during the 46th Annual Directing Council meeting of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). She also gave the winner a gift from the family of Dr. Manuel Velasco Suárez, who was also in attendance, to memorialize his spirit of being united to protect the dignity of humankind via bioethics. The proposed research has importance for Latin America and Sorokin's proposal demonstrates her solid knowledge of bioethics. The speech concluded with, "We are proud to add your name to the list of international health leaders who have been recognized in this forum."

Earlier in the day at a recognition luncheon, the Executive Director of the Pan American Health and Education Foundation, Ms. Jess Gersky, congratulated Prof. Sorokin for being awarded this major grant in the field of bioethics in the Americas. She noted that "Bioethics is an emerging discipline in health with moral implications extending to highly diverse areas, health care, public health and social sciences. Professor Sorokin is a young scholar leading bioethics efforts in Latin America. We welcome her to our inter-American health family."

The Manuel Velasco Suárez Award in Bioethics was established to honor the late Dr. Velasco Suárez of Mexico, a pioneer in the field of bioethics in Latin America and to promote this emerging discipline. To stimulate young scholars in the development of their capacities for bioethical analysis, the Secretary of Health in Mexico and PAHEF in cooperation with PAHO created this award in 2002. This award is one of the awards of the Awards for Excellence in Inter-American Public Health Program, a partnership between the Foundation and PAHO.

The Pan American Health and Education Foundation is an independent philanthropic organization working to combat disease, lengthen life, improve health care services, foster health research, and enhance the capacities of health care workers in the Americas through grant-making and direct program implementation. PAHEF works to promote philanthropy as a core social value, and shares the Pan American Health Organization's vision of Health for All.

Download Prof. Patricia Sorokin's speech (pdf)