Filipino named Scientist of the Year in Harvard

MANILA -- Filipino biologist Baldomero Olivera has been awarded Scientist of the Year for 2007 by the prestigious Harvard Foundation in the United States for his contributions in the field of biology.

Olivera, who currently works as Distinguished Professor of Biology from the University of Utah, has made groundbreaking research on neurotoxins of the extremely poisonous Conus, a type of cone snail found in the tropical waters of the Philippines.

The predatory cone snails have one of the most powerful neurotoxins in the animal kingdom. A single strike from a harpoon-like tongue could easily kill a human.

The story is confirmed in the website of the Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, as well as in the website of the University of Utah.

In a short email to the INQUIRER.net, Olivera also confirmed his reception, which would be held during the annual Harvard Foundation Albert Einstein Science Conference: Advancing Minorities and Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics in Harvard's Science Center.

According to the news report from the University of Utah, Olivera would be joined by about 30 Harvard undergraduate students and about 100 students from Boson and Cambridge public schools for the Harvard Foundation's annual Partners in Science program on March 17.

The program features lectures and demonstrations at the Science Center for inner city junior high school students by Harvard science faculty and interactive science experiments with Harvard College students.

The Science Conference program is co-sponsored with several Harvard College student organizations, including the Harvard Undergraduate Biological Sciences Society and the Harvard Philippine Forum.

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