Presenting Author
Universidad de los Andes , Colombia
I am Ricardo Peña, a medical doctor, and pharmacologist with a passion for biomedical research and education. Since the age of 16, I have:
-being actively involved in education, from secondary school to postgraduate education in the health sciences.
-engaged in biomedical research exploring the effects of aging and inflammation on cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease.
-worked on higher education administration, in the accreditation of academic programs, and managing research productivity programs.
Three personal observations orient my interest in education and research:
1) All countries have talented people. Managing opportunities to exploit those talents is key to human and economic development.
2) Developing countries have significant functional literacy problems that impact subjects' performance, regardless of their academic training level. The functional illiteracy in a segment of the population also makes them more susceptible to poor health outcomes.
3) Critical and innovative thinking, fostered by education and research, is key to the growth of communities, institutions, and health systems. The accelerated changes brought about by information technologies and the industrial revolution 4.0 can shrink the productivity gap between developing and developed countries if properly managed and implemented.