Mexican specialist wins UNESCO award for popularizing science

A Mexican physiologist and neurobiologist renowned for his work on sleep has won a United Nations award honouring those who have helped to promote science, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced today.

René Raúl Drucker Colín will officially receive the 2011 UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science at a ceremony today in Bhubaneswar, India, the agency said in a press release.

Professor Drucker Colín was chosen for the biennial award – which was created in 1951 – by Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, on the recommendation of an international jury.

The professor, who holds a degree in psychology and a doctorate in medicine, is best known for his work in identifying the role played by neurotransmitters during sleep, and has been described by UNESCO as “an ardent promoter of science.”

He writes regularly for La Jornada, a daily Mexican newspaper, and has also participated regularly on the science programmes of Televisa, a national television broadcaster.

Professor Drucker Colín is slated to receive a cheque for $20,000, the silver UNESCO-Albert Einstein medal and a certificate at tomorrow’s ceremony, which will take place during the Indian Science Congress.

The prize is jointly funded by the Kalinga Foundation and the Government of the Indian state of Orissa, of which Bhubaneswar is the capital.