•  The project gathers 15 institutions of Chile, USA and Europe, like Cedenna, and seeks to develop, analyze and test new therapies for treating colorectal cancer by means of magnetic nanostructures. The initiative also has the purpose of promoting human capital exchange, technology transfer and the creation of new knowledge.
   

15 organizations, including the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Cedenna) of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, joined to form the Magnamed consortium and respond to the call by the EU’s research grant program that will fund the project for at least four years. Other members of the consortium are the Complutense University of Madrid, the University of the Basque Country, the University of California, San Diego and IMG Pharma. The goal of this group is to work in collaboration and find new methods to treat colorectal cancer using state-of-the-art magnetic nanostructures to directly target and destroy tumor cells and avoid the side effects of treatments like radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

“Nanotechnology has a strong impact on different aspects of daily life. Its applications are expanding and being increasingly enhanced, reaching fields like medicine, where the search for new cancer treatments has gained interest and raised expectations, as conventional therapies are still expensive and complex and their side effects leave deep marks in the body,” Dr Dora Altbir, director of Cedenna, says.

The challenge is to create nanometric-sized disc-shaped structures that can be introduced in the body to destroy malignant cells thanks to their magnetic properties, without affecting healthy cells. This type of therapy has been studied for a while, but elaborating magnetic nanoparticles that effectively interact with biosensors and which are not derived from biotoxic materials has made the European Union to promote international cooperation among universities, research center and laboratories around the world to find new solutions and reduce cancer mortality.

“For Cedenna, the fact of participating in this project represents an opportunity to contribute with a potential solution to one of the most catastrophic and fatal diseases, to learn, and to work in collaboration with different institutions. This will give us the possibility of transferring that new knowledge and share with other scientists,” Dr Altbir says. The center was already awarded funds to collaborate.

Selective treatment

An effective treatment at an early stage of the disease is key to reducing mortality in some types of cancer like colon or rectal cancer. The challenge in clinical trials lies in that cancer cells are difficult to detect because of low concentrations of tumor biomarkers, which become perceptible at advanced stages. But the most common treatments are aggressive and non-selective.

Magnetic nanoparticles bind to malignant cells, contributing to early cancer detection. However, as their application is limited, Magnamed will explore the potential of emerging technologies based on magnetic nanostructures, which design can result in a better response.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• His paper deals with details about how a person's exposure to carbon dioxide affects cerebral blood flow. The information was provided by experimental British patients, as part of a collaborative work with the University of Leicester.

Dr. Max Chacón, professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, was awarded the 2011 Jack Perkins Prize by the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) of England, for his publication "Non-linear multivariate modelling Hemodynamics of cerebral hemodynamics with Autoregressive Support Vector Machines.”

 The award, which consists of  £ 250, is given annually to the best paper published during the year in the Medical Engineering & Physics journal, after a review carried out by a specialized committee that evaluates aspects such as the novelty and impact of the research.

 Dr. Chacon thanked the award and noted that this type of survey research confirms the good work being done in this University. "This is an important recognition for us, especially because our paper in the area of cerebral self regulation did not belong to the field of biomechanics, the journal’s strongest line of research, which could have been  the most possible winner”, he said.

The winner added that "all the profits for this recognition are indirect: for example, increasing the bonds of cooperation not only with the university we work with (Leicester), but also with other foreign institutions".

Significant contribution to medicine

The awarded paper is part of a specific area called cerebral hemodynamics. Professor Chacón  is working with two other researchers: Claudio Araya, former student of Master’s degree at the U. of Santiago, and Ronney Panerai from the University of Leicester (England).

 The cerebral hemodynamics acquires vital importance, because the estimates of international organizations involved in the field of health in Chile indicate that by 2025 more people will die from brain strokes than heart attacks. It is believed that the blood flow would be strongly linked to vascular accidents and also with a number of diseases, such as Alzheimer's, arteriosclerosis (carotid artery, mainly), head trauma, vascular dementia and diabetes, among others.

"Cerebral strokes are rising very strongly in the country and the causes are unknown. One thing that causes brain damage is the stronger flow in the arteries. It is known that the brain has a flow control system, and this means that, although the pressure varies in the body, the flow is almost constant in the brain. If there is little flow, one loses consciousness and, conversely, if there is a lot of flow an artery breakdown happens, “Chacón explained.

This mechanism, which constantly generates blood flow into the brain, is what researchers try to model through a data–based nonlinear system. This publication addresses one of the topics related to cerebral hemodynamics, because of the data given by the English researcher who provided the information based on 16 healthy patients who breathe in air with a small fraction (5%) of carbon dioxide (CO2) through a mask. The aim was to know how breathing in this gas affects the regulation of the blood flow in the brain.

"We proved that it is possible to represent changes in the inhalation of CO2 in a person by using this nonlinear model and this has metabolic implications, for instance. We know that breathing in a fraction of CO2 produces changes, which are equivalent to those experienced by people with diabetes, i.e. a metabolic problem, and these problems affect the blood flow in the same way as CO2 does it, “the researcher said.

Prize

The IPEM is an institution dedicated to joining professionals from the physical sciences, clinical engineering, the academic world, the health services and the industry, in order to share knowledge and advances in science and technology. Since 2000, it gives the Jack Perkins Prize in honor of his first journal’s editor, who died in 2000.

• Through a Fondecyt Initiation into Research Project, Dr. Luis Lemus, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, has studied the interaction between new molecules called “helicates” and DNA, in order to evaluate the development of more specific drugs to fight cancer, avoiding the destructive effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

According to Globocan, a worldwide survey on cancer conducted in 2012; there are 14.1 million new cases of this disease. At present, the most widely used treatments are chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Their purpose is to stop cancer spreading in the body by killing malignant cells that divide rapidly, one of the main properties of most cancer cells; however, in the process healthy cells are killed too: hair follicles, gastric mucosal cells, blood cells, etc. These side effects make these non-specific treatments very destructive:

Something that could help to change this situation is the development of new compounds with a higher selectivity towards a specific biological target, the line of research of Dr. Luis Lemus, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago, who leads the Fondecyt* Initiation into Research Project named “Study on Helicates as DNA coordinators”. Its results could lead to developing more specific anticancer drugs.

“These molecules (helicates) are able to bind to DNA strands by means of specific and strong interactions, modifying its structure, what prevents the genetic material from replicating inside the cell. What should be noticed is that cancer cells are the ones that produce the largest amount of DNA; therefore, these molecules could be a potential treatment against cancer progression,” professor Lemus stresses.

To make progress in the treatment of this disease, first it is essential to deepen the knowledge about these compounds, which started to be studied less than 30 years ago. According to professor Lemus, nowadays there are a few groups in the world dedicated to study the use of helicates as anticancer drugs and the way in which this type of interaction affects the DNA structural modification has not been studied yet. This is the line of research that Dr. Lemus intends to develop.

“Helicates are inorganic chiral molecules with a helical shape similar to the one of DNA, in which each molecule has a helical twist sense defined according to its structure. These positive molecules interact with negatives ones, in this case, DNA. After this electrostatic attraction occurs, the DNA is able to recognize and selectively establish secondary interactions with helicates with better twist sense than others. Here, documenting this phenomenon is essential.

This project will be implemented in two stages. First, by performing the structural study and synthesis of different types of helicates with different transition metals; and second, by doing DNA tests to evaluate the affinity between the molecules and DNA, and the extent to which helicates could modify the latter.

Regarding the projections of the study, professor Lemus says that in the future, “it would be ideal to evaluate these compounds against cancer cells and therefore, to prove if they are able to kill these cells. However, today we are trying to build a very basic knowledge, because it does not exist. Acquiring this knowledge will be very helpful for us and for other groups.”

A field to explore

Creating a research group dedicated to study inorganic complexes for biological applications is among the goals that Dr. Lemus has for this project. According to the academic, this area is little developed in Chile, so this study could start a new line of research both at the University and in the country.

“We have the facilities, equipment and experience in synthesis to meet the initial goals of this project; but we also need help from other researchers who could contribute with their knowledge in biology to make the study more valuable. This project is the first step for the expectations that we have as a group,” Dr. Lemus says.

*Fondecyt: National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Academics at the Department of Physics, led by Dr. Raúl Cordero, were part of the scientific expedition made in November by the Chilean Antarctic Institute to Unión Glacier and they contributed with valuable measurements of the optical properties of snow.
   

• Cross-laminated timber offers some extraordinary advantages for buildings: thermal insulation, seismic properties, good performance under fire and ecological sustainability are some of its properties. This was shown by the study led by Paulina González, professor at the Department of Civil Works Engineering. On May 18^th, the book with the results of the study was launched.

   

  An innovating system for constructing buildings with more than two floors using cross-laminated timber (CLT) was proposed by an outstanding study led by Paulina González, professor at the Department of Civil Works Engineering.

  Cross-laminated timber is a three-layered panel made of lumber. The layers are laid in parallel formation and are “bonded together with special glues, at 90º to the layer below,” Paulina González says. “This gives the panel a high resistance, because wood has different mechanical and physical properties in the three directions,” she adds.

  This technology proposed by professor González has already been implemented in other countries; the difference is that, in Chile, it would be based on radiata pine, which forestry is highly developed in Chile.

  Professor González says that Chile is among the countries with the largest planted areas of radiata pine. “In addition to developing this project, we can give value added to our timber, try to solve the housing shortage of our country, and establish a system that would allow constructing buildings which structural elements, walls and slabs are made of this new product,” she adds.

  Better properties

  According to her research, constructing a cross-laminated timber-based building has many advantages over constructing with other materials, like reinforced concrete; For example, as it is a prefabricated product, it allows reduced construction times and a cleaner environment.

  “You bring the walls and slabs and assemble the building like a meccano set. It reduces construction times to a third, if compared to the construction of a reinforced concrete building,” she explains.

  Besides, cross-laminated timber has seismic properties. As reinforced concrete weighs as much as six times as cross-laminated timber, it generates higher seismic forces than the ones of a CLT-based building. “As it (a CLT based building) is assembled like a meccano set, with steel connectors, it gets so flexible that prevents its destruction,” professor González adds.

  Additionally, when constructing a building with CLT, less time is required, what can eventually lead to a solution for reconstruction works after natural disasters.

  “Construction times are reduced to a third. And so are the costs. The costs of structural work get reduced by 35%, and the total cost, after installations, to 10%,” she says with regards the economic benefits of CLT.

  Radiata pine, the base of the product studied by professor González, is ecologically sustainable. On the one hand, because its carbon footprint- the total amount of greenhouse gases that it emits- is very low; and on the other, because this tree grows very fast and it has extensively been planted in the country.

  “It is sustainable because carbon remains in the timber, and the carbon footprint is almost zero. Also, radiata pine grows very fast. This is why there are so many plantations in Chile.”

  A safe material

  “Depending on its density, when timber burns, it produces a charcoal layer in the outside that works as insulation to prevent fire and heat from entering its inner part,” professor González said, debunking the myth that this material is fragile.

  “It will last longer, even longer than a steel building. The steel building’s ability to resist fire is reduced to a half when it is exposed to 400º C. Timber remains stable for its charcoal layer,” she adds.

  Besides, timber has better acoustic insulation properties than reinforced concrete.

  CORFO Project

  The CORFO Project 12BPC2-13553 “Estudios de Ingeniería para Introducir en Chile un Sistema Constructivo de Rápida Ejecución para Edificios de Mediana Altura, Utilizando Elementos de Madera Contralaminada” lasted for two years; however, researchers at the Faculty of Engineering had conducted former studies on this subject matter. For this reason, after all this process, “we concluded that, considering the use of timber, CLT is the best system for a seismic country,” professor González says.

  “We have been the first ones in developing a project like this in Chile, with this system for medium-rise buildings,” she says.

  Professor González is optimistic about the future that TLC may have in our country due the experiences in other countries of the world. “In Vancouver (Canada), they are designing an eighteen-floored building and organizing a contest to build a 30-floored one,” she explains.

  Based on this study, the book ‘Sistema Constructivo en Madera Contralaminada para Edificios’ was produced. It includes former studies on this subject matter and an outstanding model of a four-floored CLT-based.

  The book was launched on May 18th, at 12:00 h, in a ceremony at the Salón de Honor of Universidad de Santiago, with the presence of President Juan Manuel Zolezzi Cid.

  Translated by Marcela Contreras

Universidad de Santiago was awarded 900 million Chilean pesos in the V version of the Contest Anillos Research Projects in Science and Technology. The contest was announced by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research.

Universidad de Santiago was awarded 900 million Chilean pesos for the execution of two projects in the context of the V version of the Contest Anillos Research project in Science and Technology 2014.

Thanks to the Associative Research Program (PIA, in Spanish), 17 projects will be funded nationwide, all of them top-class studies with international scope.

Dr Óscar Bustos Castillo, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation, said that he was very pleased with the results, adding that “this type of project allows developing cutting-edge research that goes beyond our borders, and this is highly significant to contribute to our university’s internationalization.”

Dr Bustos highlighted that two of the projects that were awarded funding belong to consolidated research groups that, in the short term, could become research centers.

“These study projects will be executed over three years and will allow us to face issues of national interest and global challenges, restating the role we play as a state and public university,” he said.

The projects

One of the projects is led by Dr Maritza Páez and Dr María Victoria Encinas, researchers at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, and Dr Jenny Blamey, researcher at Fundación Biociencia, who will address the problems generated by the spontaneous and undesirable damage of materials, known as corrosion or biocorrosion. The name of the study is “Functionalized surfaces: protection against corrosion and biocorrosion.”

They have the goal of replacing the anti corrosion procedures that involve chemical compounds of high toxicity, like chromates, and provide effective and eco-friendly solutions.

Dr Francisco Melo (surface mechanics), Dr José Zagal (electrochemistry) and Dr Manuel Azocar (bioinorganic chemistry) will participate in the project.

Dr Marcela Urzúa (polymers) and Dr Marco Flores (surface physics), both researchers at Universidad de Chile, will take part in the project too, as well as Dr Jenny Blamey and Dr Freddy Boehmwald (microbiology), of Fundación Biociencia, and Dr Mamie Sancy (corrosion-electrochemistry), of the Chilean Air Force.

The second project is led by Dr Raúl Cordero, researcher at the Department of Physics. This is the second time that he leads an Anillo Project (the first time was in 2010). This time, he seeks to better understand the effects of black carbon at the Andean cryosphere. 

Black carbon or soot is a pollutant generated by the use of fossil fuels in the cities that is carried by the wind over the Andean snow, changing its reflectivity and its melting speed. 

According to Dr Cordero, the study “is mainly focused on measuring the content of black carbon in the snow on the west side of the Andes.” For this purpose, they will conduct campaigns to collect samples and analyze their carbon content across the country, from Putre to the Patagonia.

With this data, “we expect to generate a map that shows the black-carbon content in the Andean cryosphere, highlighting the areas of impact. This information will be useful to evaluate the effect of black carbon on glaciers melting,” the researcher explained.

The project is really important, because the country’s long-term sustainability depends on the availability of water resources coming from the Andean snows. However, just like many cold regions of the planet, the Andean cryosphere has doubled the global warming rate. “Although green-house gas emissions seem to be the main cause of this problem, black carbon may be playing a role too,” he added.

“Universidad de Santiago is a leader in interdisciplinary studies that address different aspects of sustainability, what largely explains the successful results of our applications. This project involves an interdisciplinary team of physicists, chemists, glaciologists and engineers of six renowned Chilean universities. Besides, ten international institutions will collaborate with the project, like the German Aerospace Center (DLR, in German) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC),” Dr Cordero concluded.

Nationwide results

The other 15 projects that were awarded funds belong to the following universities: five to Universidad Católica de Chile; four to Universidad de Chile; two to Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María and one to Universidad de La Frontera, one to Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, one to Universidad Andrés Bello and one to Universidad Autónoma de Chile.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The project led by Dr Silvia Matiacevich, professor at the Department of Food Science and Technology of the Technological Faculty, seeks to renew food industry by developing a compound with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties to prolong shelf life of dairy products. The project is funded through a Fondecyt Regular project 2016.

Nowadays, fresh, healthy and natural food consumption has increased, particularly, the intake of dairy products. According to the Chilean Bureau for Agricultural Studies and Policies (ODEPA; in Spanish), in 2013 the intake per capita was 146.5 liter, a national record in the country. 

However, these products require additives for their preservation that are not always natural and that do not allow a balanced and healthy diet.

In this context, Dr Silvia Matiacevich, professor at the Department of Food Science and Technology of the Technological Faculty; Dr Rubén Bustos, professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering, and students at both units formed an interdisciplinary research team that will work on the study “Prolonged release of natural active compounds for improving shelf life of a dairy food matrix: Effect of structure obtained by different encapsulation process”. The project is funded by a Fondecyt Regular project (1160463) and it seeks to find a new active compound to preserve dairy products by means of nanotechnology. 

“We want to develop a new active ingredient with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties for dairy foods, in such a way that the compound has a prolonged release during storage, extending the product’s shelf life,” Dr Matiacevich says.

With this in mind, the researchers intend to study how the structure generated in this active ingredient- a powder developed through two different techniques- modifies its prolonged release in time in a real matrix,” she adds.

Food innovation and collaborative work

The objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of the structure obtained through “different encapsulation processes in prolonged release during storage of an encapsulated active agent,” in order to prolong the shelf life of a milk-based food matrix.

“By using encapsulation processes it is possible to obtain nanometric-sized particles, so the principles of nanotechnology are involved in this development,” favoring the compound prolonged release,” Dr Rubén Bustos, co-researcher of this study, says.

Food innovation research has increased worldwide. In Latin America, there are several research groups. For example, there are centers in Argentina, Colombia and Brazil, which professionals will collaborate in this project.

According to Dr Matiacevich, the main contribution of this study lies in that they will work directly with foods, so the study will not only provide basic knowledge but it will be applied to a real matrix.

For his part, Dr Bustos stresses the importance of their work with nanotechnology by saying: “At some point, microencapsulated ingredients were the greatest breakthrough, but now we will work with nanoencapsulated compounds, with much smaller and innovative structures.”

For the research team, the most important fact in relation to this project is that it involves the collaborative work of two departments of two different faculties of Universidad de Santiago de Chile. They also value the support of the Vice Presidency of Research, Development and Innovation, and the collaborative work with national and foreign universities. 

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•  According to Dr Leonel Rojo, researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, the use of Aristotelia Chilensis allows to reverse the problems caused by the use of psychotropic drugs, like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Dr Leonel Rojo, researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, found that people using antipsychotic drugs for 6 continuous months exponentially developed obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and cardiovascular diseases.

According to the Chilean National Institute of Public Health, clozapine and olanzapine have been the most commonly imported psychotropic drugs in Chile in the past ten years for their low cost and effectiveness for the treatment of psychosis or schizophrenia in adult patients and the treatment of attention deficit disorder, autism, Asperger syndrome and bipolar disorders in children.

However, the side effects that they produce alerted Dr Rojo, as he found that antidiabetic drugs did not help patients to overcome their problem. He started looking for solutions, and after testing a Chilean product in laboratory, in 2012 he found an answer: Maqui berry (Aristotelia Chilensis), a small tree that grows in the center and the south of Chile.

“Descubrimos en Estados Unidos, que uno de sus compuestos es fuertemente antidiabético, así que pensamos que el maqui puede prevenir la obesidad que es causada por antisicóticos y descubrimos que previene la acumulación de lípidos en las células en pacientes tratados con estos fármacos”, explica el experto en toxicología.

“In the USA, we found that one of the maqui components is a strong antidiabetic compound, so we thought that maqui could prevent the obesity caused by antipsychotic drugs. We found that it reduces lipid accumulation in the cells of patients who are treated with these drugs,” Dr Rojo explains.

Research team

Dr Rojo has an extensive scientific experience. His work has been recognized by the New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists and the American Society of Pharmacognosy, after he discovered an anti-aging technology based on Pouteria Lucuma bioactive compounds.

The project has the collaboration of Dr Ilya Raskin, of Rutgers University, New Jersey (USA); a research team of Universidad de Chile, led by Dr Pablo Gaspar; and the Hadassah Academic College of Jerusalem.

The study is called “Evaluation of Anthocyanins from Maqui Berry in the Prevention of Clozapine-Induced Hepatic Lipid Accumulation, Activation of SREBP1c Target Genes and Obesity” and it is funded by a Fondecyt Initiation Project in the field of psychotropic drugs and metabolism.

Current situation and expectations

Currently, Dr Rojo and his collaborators continue working in the laboratory at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago. At this stage, they are trying to elucidate how the natural maqui components (called anthocyanins) prevent lipid accumulation and the metabolic problem associated to the use of antipsychotics.

The researcher expects to conclude his work by the end of 2017 with a continuity project that allows using the product in patients. Dr Rojo says that this project will benefit the country, because he thinks that the product would not be expensive; and it would also be good for national economy, because people who collect and sell maqui are eager to find new uses for it.

Today, the product is considered as a super fruit and it is mainly commercialized in the United States. Besides, there are already companies interested in the project and in getting involved in it.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The project, led by Dr. Ricardo Salazar, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of the University, aims at decontaminating the water from dyes waste and additives, by using electricity and solar energy.

The textile industry in Chile was born in the mid-nineteenth century and expanded thanks to the measures of protection of the internal market which were implemented at that time. Another factor was the arrival of Palestinian immigrants that gave prosperity to the development of the industry.

However, as all industrial activity, this industry was also a contaminant, due to the use of water in its tasks.

This situation becomes a serious problem when you consider that our country has  supply and drought problems. In this context, Dr. Ricardo Salazar, an academic at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology at the U. Santiago, is leading the Fondecyt project: "Degradation of dyes in wastewater from the textile industry by electrochemical oxidation technologies.” With this project, he aims to provide a solution for wastewater reuse in this process.

The study comes from a previous work by this expert that consisted in analyzing water decontamination of pesticides used in the wine industry. "The first two projects involved water treatment in the laboratory and comprised a chemical study. Now, however, I proposed the construction of a pilot plant to treat more wastewater from the textile industry”, Salazar said.

The project aims to be a contribution to environmental conflict resolution. This is the vital motivation for this academic, who seeks to decontaminate waters that contain dyes wastes and additives. To achieve this, he will work with electricity and solar energy and without using chemicals.

In addition, Dr. Salazar adds that "laws are becoming more stringent for industries in terms of technology demand and waste disposal rates. Therefore, the industries will have to be prepared. The idea is to step forward and provide an approach to this conflict and be useful in the future. "

Purification Process

The purification process is performed by the hydroxyl radical, which derives from water oxidation. This element reacts with the organic components present in the water, degrades pollutants and transforms the contaminant organic compounds into carbon dioxide.

Some of the steps included in this four-year project are: to finish the work in the laboratory, which aims to observe what happens in the whole process; identify each of the compounds that are produced and, finally, build a pilot plant. In this last stage, the scholar has the direct support of Dr. Julio Romero, project co-investigator who is also a researcher at the Faculty of Engineering of the University.

For Dr. Salazar, the importance of the research that he develops lies, mainly, on the human capital formation and in the "responsibility of changing the image of research in the country. Our work could contribute to the enterprise, the industry and, obviously, the University, as we could get the latest technological equipment to develop the project and internationalize the name of the institution. "

By Marcela González

• The National Institute of Industrial Property recognized Universidad de Santiago as the third Chilean university with the highest number of invention patent requests that seek to contribute to the country development in fields like chemistry and biology, engineering and technology. Maximiliano Santa Cruz, Inapi’s National Director and Óscar Bustos, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation of Universidad de Santiago,   encouraged the University community to continue constantly producing industrial innovations to contribute to society.

On April 25th, in the context of the World Intellectual Property Day, our University was recognized as the third best national institution in requesting invention patents during 2013.

The National Institute of Industrial Property (Inapi, in Spanish)- an agency responsible to the Ministry of Economy in charge of registering, managing and promoting industrial property rights in Chile- granted our University an award in a ceremony led by Maximiliano Santa Cruz, Inapi´s National Director.

During the activity that took place at Inapi’s building, Santa Cruz highlighted the important role played by our University in producing creative innovations that contribute to our country’s development.

“Universidad de Santiago de Chile is absolutely essential to our patenting system. It has always been in the highest positions at the patent request ranking and this is not a coincidence: it is the result of serious intellectual property policies,” Inapi’s director said.

For Maximiliano Santa Cruz, our University’s interest in industrial property “is a powerful signal to its researchers, professors and innovators, in general.”

“I ask Universidad de Santiago’s innovators to continue creating new things and using the patenting system for it is a powerful tool to protect intellectual property,” he added.

Dr. Óscar Bustos, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation (Vridei, in Spanish) of our University, who received Inapi´s award, showed himself very pleased with the position in the ranking at a national level.

“We are very satisfied with our exceptional position among the institutions that request for invention patents (…) We would have been happy to keep the second place like we did last year, but being among the main institutions that file patents requests in Chile is excellent news indeed,” Dr. Bustos said.

Pontifica Universidad Católica was at the first place in the patent request ranking while Universidad de Concepción was at the second place.

Finally, Vice President Bustos said that the high position of our University in the ranking reflects that “our researchers have become aware that not only scientific publications are important for our country: developing specific technological projects in key areas for Chile is important too.”

According to data provided by the Department of Technology Transfer of our University, during 2013, this state and public institution filed 11 invention patent requests in Chile, and at the same time, it filed other 42 requests with foreign agencies in charge of registering industrial inventions.

Translated by Marcela Contreras