A recent agreement with a university in Mexico promises to tap new sources of joint research funding from national and international agencies, encourage the exchange of faculty and fellows, and promote collaboration in projects, publications and presentations.

La Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL) rector Reyes S. Tamez Guerra and MUSC representative, Takis S. Papas, Ph.D., developed the inter-institutional agreement for the benefit of both schools. The agreement is similar to one signed between UANL and the Harvard University AIDS Institute, headed by Dr. Max Essex.

“All the successes that these joint investigations and interchanges yield will be shared: the publications and the technological advancements as well as the patents that could be derived from this program,” Guerra said in an interview with a Mexican newspaper.

“This agreement is not just a document full of signatures,” said Papas, who leads MUSC's Center for Molecular and Structural Biology. “It represents a solution for the Medical University of South Carolina's need for more research capacity and an extension of the great work that is being done in our laboratories, especially in the area of cancer.”

During his visit to Mexico, Papas was also presented with an honorary degree from UANL, sponsored by the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Medicine.

UANL's main campus is in Mederos, Mexico, but it also has a number of installations in Northern Mexico. The university offers education at all levels ranging from high school to post graduate degrees. The faculty of 6,500 professors is available to the more than 100,000 students, and together they form an institution of higher learning that serves a vital role in Mexican and Latin American academic life.