Hernan Chaimovich, former deputy director of the IEA-USP, has been nominated president of CNPq

Hernan Chaimovich

Biochemist Hernan Chaimovich, a professor at USP's Chemistry Institute (IQ), has accepted the invitation of the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Aldo Rebelo, to become president of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).

Chaimovich was the deputy director of the IEA-USP from 2006 to 2009 and is currently a member of the Scientific Committee of the Institute for the Intercontinental Academia. He coordinates FAPESP's Research Center for Innovation and Diffusion (CEPIDS) and is the deputy president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC).

Born in Chile, Chaimovich has graduated from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Chemical Sciences of the Universidad de Chile and holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from USP. He holds post-doctorates both from the University of California and Harvard University, and conducts research in biochemistry with emphasis on physical chemistry, focusing on the study of Biomimetic Systems, particularly micelles and vesicles structure, and enzyme and micellar catalyses.

Throughout his career, he has been actively working in national and international science politics, being member of several scientific councils and holding a number of executive positions. At USP he has been provost for research, director of the IQ, head of Department of Biochemistry, and has participated in the creation of the interdisciplinary course in Molecular Sciences, which he has coordinated. Chaimovich has been the president of the Brazilian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SBBq) and of the InterAmerican Network of Academies of Science (IANAS), and has been deputy president and director of the International Council for Science (ICSU).