In the words of Dr. Manuel Velasco Pernia: "Medical practice has made me a happy man." “I did what my mother, Sofía Pernía de Velasco, always told me: Son, I am not going to leave you great material goods, so fight if you want to be something in life. I have fought and continue to fight. I obeyed her.”
On October 9, 2021, Dr. Manuel Velasco Pernía passed away in his beloved Venezuela. Prof. Velasco was a physician of great qualities, an exemplary family man, a mentor to many medical disciples; professor to generations of Doctors, Pharmacists, Nurses, and Technicians; creator, communicator, and disseminator of medical knowledge; and Founder and member of countless scientific societies.
Manuel Velasco Pernia, was born in Santa Barbará de Barinas, on November 28, 1943. For 35 years, he served as Professor and Chair of Pharmacology of the School of Medicine, "José María Vargas" at the Central University of Venezuela, and Director of the Unit of Clinical Pharmacology (CPU) in Caracas, Venezuela.
Professor Velasco pursued post-doctoral training in clinical medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, USA and was awarded a fellowship to the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, where he gained considerable experience in the areas of nuclear transfer, embryonic stem cells, embryo micromanipulation, and state-of-the-art genetic engineering techniques in biostatistics, radioisotopes, and advanced clinical pharmacology. He contributed significantly to the understanding of endogenous amines in the control of blood pressure, and the clinical pharmacology of multiple antihypertensive drugs.
Manuel Velasco was a member of the Editorial Board or ad hoc Reviewer of the following international journals: Hypertension, Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Journal of Hypertension, Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. In addition, he served as a member of the editorial board for the American Journal of Therapeutics and an ad hoc reviewer for the Journal of Hypertension and the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Furthermore, Dr. Velasco edited numerous proceedings from international congresses in Cardiovascular Physiology, Hypertension, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and Internal Medicine. His commitment to advancing knowledge of cardiovascular diseases led Velasco to promote the creation of the Venezuelan Society of Pharmacology, the Venezuelan Society of Clinical Pharmacology, the Inter-American Society of Clinical Pharmacology, the Latin American Society of Hypertension, the Venezuelan Society of Hypertension, and the Inter-American Society of Diabetes. He also served as Editor-in-Chief of two of the most accredited Scientific Journals in Latin America: "Venezuelan Archives of Pharmacology and Therapeutics" and the "Latin American Journal of Hypertension." After retiring as Chair of the Pharmacology Department, Velasco continued a productive academic career through publications, becoming the Editor-in-Chief of New Advances in Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Immunology (Bentham Science Publishers), and became a member of the National Academy of Medicine in Venezuela. The National Academy of Medicine of Venezuela recognized Manuel Velasco' trajectory by awarding him the National Prize of Medicine in its twelfth edition. He was General Coordinator and Dean in Charge of the Faculty of Medicine in his long academic career. Corresponding member of the National Academy of Medicine of Venezuela, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Caracas Medical Gazette.
The IASH is committed to provide funds to cover this scholarship for the next two-years. Continuation of this fellowship will require the support of all those who want to continue to honor Dr. Velasco’s commitment to education and the betterment of learning opportunities for Venezuelan’s physicians. The arduous financial conditions in Venezuela impose severe restrictions to enhancing the educational and medical skills of young medical graduates. You can make a difference!
• Contributions to the MANUEL VELASCO IASH SCHOLARSHIP are tax-deductible; any amount equal to or greater than $50.00 US dollars will be much appreciated.
• Contributors to the MANUEL VELASCO IASH SCHOLARSHIP FUND will be recognized in a special page of the IASH website and provided with a certificate of appreciation.
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Rocella Opening Remarks from the Press Conference on the Release of the Joint National Committee on the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC7). “I'm going to talk about what these new guidelines mean for the public and patients, and about what the Institute and the National High Blood Pressure Education Program are and will be doing to insure that Americans can take advantage of this new information. A key part of these efforts is an ambitious new initiative called "Mission Possible" to alert Americans to the dangers of high blood pressure and to make it easier for them to lead a heart-healthy lifestyle. I'll explain this initiative in a moment.”
Edward J. Roccella Ph.D., MPH, was an indefatigable advocate of cardiovascular health in the world through his pioneer efforts in the generation of the USA medical guidelines for the treatment of high blood pressure until he retired from the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health in 2007. Appointed as the Coordinator of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program(NHBPEP), his contribution to this organization is credited to have improved global awareness of the negative impact of high blood pressure on cardiovascular health. As NHBPEP Coordinator, Roccella reconstituted 45 professional organizations into one body, internationally recognized as the Joint National Committee Reports (JNC-). His efforts in disseminating public health approaches to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular diseases promoted the development of initiatives for reducing salt consumption and the associated hypertension burden in Brazil, Germany, Egypt, and Jordan. The Federal Republic of Germany, the Egyptian and Brazilian Ministries of Health, recognized his contributions to hypertension prevention and control. The National Institutes of Health Directors Award, the HealthTrac Foundation Prize, the University of Michigan John Romani Prize for lifetime achievement in public health administration, the American Society of Hypertension Presidents Award, the International Society of Hypertension in Blacks Presidential Award, the Society for Public Health Education Distinguished Fellow, the 2008 Senator Frank Lautenberg Award, and the COSEHC™ Lifetime Achievement Award exemplify the esteem that medical organizations and health care providers bestowed on him. Dr. Roccella was a past president of the Society for Public Health Education and a former member of the American Public Health Association Governing Council. His commitment to improve knowledge of hypertension in Latin America strengthened collaborative efforts between the NHLBI and the IASH. Among the many contributions made by Dr. Rocella to the IASH, his chairing of the 2016 Strategic Plan constituted the backbone of the present organogram of out Society.
Edward Roccella’s commitments to promote initiatives addressing the importance of healthy lifestyles were the decisive element in helping Carlos M Ferrario MD at the Wake Forest School of Medicine to start the Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control (COSEHC™) in 1993. Through its trajectory as an educational health-based organization, COSEHC seeded initiatives that successfully raised awareness of the increased burden of cardiovascular mortality in 13 States in the US South. In addition, Roccella and NHLBI former Director Claude Lenfant, MD, were the first to visualize the potential of COSEHC to drastically alter the belief that the high mortality rate from cardiovascular disease in the Southeastern USA was due to the more prominent presence of African Americans in the region. Throughout those times, Ed was my personal counselor and esteemed friend. He never asked for anything other than to provide a balanced and positive viewpoint for improving communication, educate physicians on more rigorous approaches to control hypertension, and never requested retribution for his contributions to science and education. Among medical leaders, he was a leader of leaders. Dr. Roccella’s contributions to the health of the USA and the world will not be forgotten.
