Jacinto Convit García (11 September 1913 – 12 May 2014) was a Venezuelan physician and scientist, known for developing a vaccine to prevent

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

and his studies to treat cancer. He played a role in founding Venezuela's National Institute of Biomedicine and held many leprosy-related positions. Among Convit's many honors for his work on leprosy and tropical diseases was Spain's

Prince of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...

in the Scientific and Technical Research category and France's

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. In 1988, Convit was nominated for a

Nobel Prize in Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single ...

for his experimental anti-leprosy vaccine.

Biography

The son of Francesc Convit i Martí, a Spaniard from the region of Catalonia who was a naturalized Venezuelan citizen, Jacinto Convit García was born in La Pastora, Libertador Municipality,

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

in 1913. His mother was Flora García Marrero, a Venezuelan with Canarian roots. Convit began his studies in the Caracas School and continued in the

Andrés Bello Andrés de Jesús María y José Bello López (; November 29, 1781 – October 15, 1865) was a Venezuelan Humanism, humanist, diplomat, poet, legislator, philosopher, educator and philologist, whose political and literary works constitute a ...

lyceum. He was a pupil of

Rómulo Gallegos Rómulo Ángel del Monte Carmelo Gallegos Freire (2 August 1884 – 5 April 1969) was a Venezuelan novelist and politician. In 1948, he became the first freely elected President of Venezuela, president in Venezuela's history. He was removed from ...

in philosophy and mathematics. Inspired by people with

, he entered medical school at

Central University of Venezuela Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

(UCV) in 1932. He earned his title as a Medical Science Doctor in 1938. Convit began his teaching career in 1940 and was appointed Head of the Dermatology Clinic in 1950. In 1965, his work at the Dermatology Clinic was recognized by the US Board of Dermatology. At the same time, he worked for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Venezuela. He subsequently played a major role in founding the National Institute of Dermatology (now called the National Institute of Biomedicine) in 1972. In 1968, Convit was elected president of the International Leprosy Association (ILA) and was re-elected in 1973. In 1971, Convit was named by the WHO as Director of the Co-operative Centre for the Study and Histological Classification of Leprosy. In 1976, Convit was elected Director of the Pan American Research and Training in Leprosy and Tropical Diseases. He was also named president of the '' International Journal of Leprosy''. In 1987, Convit added killed ''

Mycobacterium leprae ''Mycobacterium leprae'' (also known as the leprosy bacillus or Hansen's bacillus) is one of the two species of bacteria that cause Hansen's disease (leprosy), a chronic but curable infectious disease that damages the peripheral nerves and ta ...

'' to the

BCG vaccine The Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine is a vaccine primarily used against tuberculosis (TB). It is named after its inventors Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin. In countries where tuberculosis or leprosy is common, one dose is recom ...

. The combined vaccine was tested worldwide, but was not more effective than regular BCG. In 1988, the Venezuelan government nominated Convit for a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

. A vaccine for

leishmaniasis Leishmaniasis is a wide array of clinical manifestations caused by protozoal parasites of the Trypanosomatida genus ''Leishmania''. It is generally spread through the bite of Phlebotominae, phlebotomine Sandfly, sandflies, ''Phlebotomus'' an ...

was later developed using Convit's method. He also worked on

onchocerciasis Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a disease caused by infection with the parasitic worm ''Onchocerca volvulus''. Symptoms include severe itching, bumps under the skin, and blindness. It is the second-most common cause of blindne ...

mycosis Fungal infection, also known as mycosis, is a disease caused by fungi. Different types are traditionally divided according to the part of the body affected: superficial, subcutaneous, and systemic. Superficial fungal infections include common ...

, and other tropical diseases. On June 7, 2010, a Venezuelan newspaper incorrectly announced the successful development by Convit of a new

cancer vaccine A cancer vaccine, or oncovaccine, is a vaccine that either treats existing cancer or prevents development of cancer. Vaccines that treat existing cancer are known as ''therapeutic'' cancer vaccines or tumor antigen vaccines. Some of the vaccines ...

intended to prevent colon, stomach and breast cancer. Venezuela's National Institute of Biomedicine soon published a note clarifying that they have been working for the previous three years on a vaccine against cancer and it is still in development. During this time they have been evaluating a small group of 23 patients, mostly breast cancer and a few of colon, stomach and brain cancers. They have been giving patients an experimental model of immunotherapy against cancer, which have had encouraging results. This vaccine is based on the idea that cancerous cells appear and propagate because the body does not detect them. A sample of the tumour mixed with

formalin Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is an organic compound with the chemical formula and structure , more precisely . The compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde. It is stored as ...

and BCG marks the malignant cells so the immune system might react and attack the cancer.

Death

Convit

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

in 2013. He died on 12 May 2014. Described as a popular hero, he never charged a patient for the care he gave. Convit published his last study at age 100 in 2013.

Honours

(France) *

(Spain) *

nomination (1988) *

TWAS Prize This is a list of recipients of the TWAS Prize, awarded annually by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) since 1985. Summary Agricultural Sciences Biology Chemistry Earth Sciences Engineering Sciences Mathematics ...

(2006)

In popular culture

In 2013 an homonymous documentary film about his life directed by Sergio Monsalve was released. The documentary was screened at the XI Venezuelan Film Festival in 2015.

References

External links

* * *
Blog about Jacinto Convit's work

Immunotherapy autovaccine for cancer treatment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Convit, Jacinto 1913 births 2014 deaths Venezuelan men centenarians Academic staff of the Central University of Venezuela Physicians from Caracas Scientists from Caracas Leprologists Venezuelan dermatologists Venezuelan people of Canarian descent Venezuelan people of Catalan descent TWAS laureates Los Notables 20th-century Venezuelan physicians