Dr. Francisco Bertini
(1932-2006)

     Dr. Francisco Bertini was born in Ravenna, Italy, on August 24, 1932. He obtained the degree of bachelor in Ravenna Classic Lyceum "Dante Alighieri" in 1951. By 1952, Dr. Bertini moved to Argentina and graduated as Licenciate in Biochemistry (1957). Later he obtained PhD in Biochemistry (1961) from the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, for his contribution in the field of biochemistry of evolution. He continued his training through as a postdoctoral fellow in the United States (1962-1966).
     When Francisco came back to Argentina (1966), he joined  the Instituto de Histología y Embriología (IHEM), at the Facultad de Medicina in the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (UNCuyo), where he worked hardly until his retirement in 1998. As a scientist, he has been considered as a pioneer in the application of modern biochemical methods for cell physiology studies. He was the head of a laboratory at the IHEM, where complemented morphological studies with enzymatic, electrophoretic and radioisotopics techniques, opening new possibilities in the field of the cell biology. Their original scientific contributions were materialized in 82 papers published in international journals. His topics of work included: comparative biochemistry, epididymal secretion and sperm maturation, lysosomal and cytoskeletal function, among others.
     Dr. Bertini reached the position of Principal Investigator from the National Council of Scientific Research in Argentina (CONICET).
     Dr. Bertini, being in charge of the teaching in cell biology courses at the Facultad of Medicina (UNCuyo). He was first appointed as Assistant Professor and, in 1991, he obtained a position as Associate Professor, until his retirement. It is undoubted that his pioneering activity led to the growth and consolidation of the Molecular and Cell Biology Area, and the knowledge on the interpretation of physiological and pathological phenomena in Medicine. A remarkable profile of Dr. Bertini personality has been his aptitude to form novel scientists. From 1982 until 1996, he was the mentor of several PhD thesis and contributed to the formation of numerous scientists at the IHEM. It is worth to remark that, at present, many of his former fellows work as professors and scientists at the IHEM in the field of Cell and Molecular Biology. Dr. Bertini was also a member of numerous scientific societies and he has actively participated in the organization of meetings, undergraduate and postgraduate courses,  and symposiums in the field of cell biology.