The Pan American Society of Neurovirology (PASNV)
The Pan-American Society of Neurovirology (PASNV) was a non-profit organization established by Dr. Trujillo and a group of scientists in the year 2000. Dr. Trujillo was the founder and President of the PASNV. The organization aimed to bring together neurologists and virologists from the United States and Latin American countries for the purpose of understanding the impact of viral infections on the nervous system in the Americas. The goal was to promote research, education, and leadership initiatives to prevent, cure, and eradicate viral infections, especially those that impact the nervous system.
The society was headquartered in Mexico City and had offices in Monterrey, Mexico, Campinas, Brazil, and Washington DC, USA. To accomplish its mission, the PASNV set specific priorities for the advancement of education, research, and leadership in the Americas. The society focused on the need for advanced training and education in neuroscience and viral epidemics, organized scientific forums to discuss important topics in neurovirology, promoted research on viral epidemics in the nervous system, explored viruses as potential gene therapies, established M.D. and Ph.D. programs in neurovirology throughout Latin America, and promoted the development of translational research infrastructure in the Americas.
Dr. Trujillo became instrumental in setting up the first “Center of Research and Development in Health Sciences (CIDICS)” at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico, with support from the PASNV. Under the leadership of Dr. Trujillo, the PASNV organized successful symposiums across the Americas for over a decade. Each of these symposiums focused on the most relevant and progressive topics related to virology and neurosciences. The Symposium ‘Project 2050: Eradication of Viral Epidemics’ in 2011 generated a lot of interest and attracted a lot of attendees from the scientific community. The message of the symposium was to establish a global network of surveillance facilities to track the development of harmful viruses worldwide. Most importantly have these centers staffed by experts trained to quickly identify, sequence, and create vaccines for dangerous new viruses.
Through the Pan-American Society of Neurovirology, Dr. Trujillo built a strong bridge between the United States and Latin American countries in the field of neurovirology.
