This Tuesday night, Dr. María Amparo Pascual López, outstanding Cuban researcher and health specialist, as well as one of the most distinguished women scientists of her time, passed away at the age of 78.
Dr. Pascual was the precursor of clinical trials in Cuba and Latin America since its inception at the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology and the Ministry of Public Health. Among her most distinctive laurels are having been the first specialist in Biostatistics in Cuba and the founding director of the National Clinical Trials Coordinating Center (CENCEC), the only institution dedicated exclusively to this activity in the country. Her most enduring legacy was the implementation of the current clinical trial management system of the National Health System.
Under her direction and leadership, the national network of clinical trials was created; leading products such as Recombinant Streptokinase, recombinant IFN alpha, Surfacén, Leukocim, Heberprot-P, among others, were evaluated and registered; an academic development strategy was designed and implemented; collaboration projects were carried out with countries in America and Europe; the quality management system was implemented and internationally certified; a Research Ethics Committee Evaluation Program was established; and the Cuban Public Registry of Clinical Trials was created, the first primary registry of the World Health Organization in the Americas; among other significant contributions.
The BBC recognized her as one of the most influential scientists in Latin America in 2013, and in 2018 the MEDICC Review magazine did, and published, an interview with her as one of the most outstanding Cuban women in science, technology and medicine under the title The power of persistence.
Born in the city of Matanzas on November 29, 1944, Dr. Pascual graduated as a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Havana in 1967 and specialized in Biostatistics at the National School of Public Health in Havana in 1974. She was a tenured researcher and assistant professor of Biostatistics at the University of Havana.
The Ministry of Public Health and the CENCEC workers extend their condolences to her family, friends, colleagues, students and co-workers in her long and fruitful career.
