 |
Dimitri Zaninovich, Chair |
 |
Sebastian Gonzalez, treasurer |
 |
Antonio Copete, representative Ph.D. student in astrophysics Graduate School of Art and Sciences |
Antonio Copete was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. During his high-school years, he ranked first in the Colombian physics Olympiads for two consecutive years and therefore represented the country in several international competitions. Antonio is currently a doctoral candidate in Physics at Harvard University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), specializing in observational High Energy Astrophysics with NASA's Swift gamma-ray burst observatory mission, as well as in instrumentation work for the planned EXIST mission. He began his doctoral work at Harvard after graduating with a S.B. in Physics from MIT, where he did research work in nuclear physics for the BLAST detector, currently in operation at MIT's Bates Linear Accelerator center. Also, since his time at MIT he has been involved in the organization of the Harvard/MIT Colombian Colloquium, a premier forum in the Boston area for academic discussion on issues related to Colombia. He has subsequently become involved in several independent projects that have developed from the Colloquium, among them the Conference on Science, Technology and Innovation in Colombia held in 2005 at Harvard and MIT, as well as various initiatives on STI development in Colombia that have followed it. For his leadership and commitment to the development of these organizations, he was recently awarded with the “Colombian of the month” prize given by the Colombian consulate in Boston. |
|
 |
Alejandro Perdomo, representative |
 |
Vicente Piedrahita, representative |
 |
Ana Maria Nieto, representative Master in Risk and Prevention student Harvard Graduate School of Education |
 |
Bibiana Taboada, representative Master in Public Administration Harvard Kennedy School |
 |
Tony Navarro, representative Master in Public Administration student Harvard Kennedy School |
Alejandra Azuero, representative Master of Laws student Harvard Law School |
|
 |
Maria Alexandra Artunduaga, representative Post-doctoral research fellow in genetics Harvard Medical School |
Born in Neiva (Huila), she participated in the “Bachilleres por Colombia” program representing the state as one of the top 20 high-school students in the country. Later she was granted the “Andres Bello” scholarship to continue her university studies at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana medical school. During her career, Maria Alexandra stands out for her leadership as co-founder of the Javeriana medical student organization and the Colombian medical student association. In 2003, she traveled to the USA where she rotated in the areas of general surgery, plastic surgery and otolaryngology for 9 months. This experience motivated her towards getting ECFMG certification to practice medicine in the United States. In 2007, she was accepted to join the Department of Genetics in Harvard Medical School as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Seidman laboratory. Currently, she is studying the genetic basis of external ear malformations (microtia). For her scientific work, she was awarded with a first prize in basic science research from the American society of pediatric otolaryngology and a fellowship from the American association of university women in 2009. Maria Alexandra wants to become a surgeon/scientist to lead a craniofacial center back in Colombia. During her spare time, she enjoys learning languages, tango or flamenco dancing, and she likes traveling with her boyfriend to places where both can practice their photography skills. |
|
 |
David Hurtado, representative Master of Science student Harvard School of Public Health |
 |
Claudia Garcia-Wagner, representative Researcher in Nutritional BiochemIstry Harvard School of Public Health |
 |
Leonardo Felipe Sabogal, representative |
Born in Bogotá, Colombia and resident of Boston, MA for the past 10 years. He is completing his Masters Degree in Finance and Control at Harvard Extension School. Felipe has been actively involved with student activities on campus. Currently he is the Banking, Finance & Insurance Functional Chair for the Harvard Extension Business Society and has contributed to organize various conferences for entrepreneurs and business leaders at Harvard University. Felipe has a deep interest on the development of Hospitality Business and the finance industry. He has helped to improve the quality of service at the Hilton and Kimpton Hotels in Boston. In 2002, Mayor Thomas Menino and the City of Boston awarded him a certificate of recognition for his contributions to the Massachusetts Restaurant Association working on behalf of the food and beverage industry. Currently he works as a Financial Advisor at Bank of America. He wants to become part of World Bank as a Project Finance Analyst. During his free time Felipe continues to improve his language proficiency in Russian, French and Swahili and works as entrepreneur for his recently founded Entertainment Magazine. |
|
 |
Laura Jaramillo-Bernal, representative B.A. in Government student Harvard College |
 |
Andres Felipe Ramirez, representative |
Born in Bogotá, Colombia and resident of Miami, Florida, is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard College. As a scientist, Andrés is interested in the evolution of disease-causing microorganisms and their effects on the human population. As a consequence of his interest in medicine, Andrés is very interested in public and global health issues. He has developed these interests by getting involved with Project Health-Project Baby, an organization that aims to break the link between poverty and poor health in the United States. As a volunteer for the organization, he works in Boston Medical Center’s maternity ward and spends his time helping the new mothers and their babies’ access adequate resources like food, shelter, and clothing to provide the stability that is needed for a healthy life. Throughout High School, he was heavily involved in the Red Cross society, and for a year he led the organization of blood drives in his school for the South Florida blood bank. After college, Andrés hopes to work in the field of public health by earning a joint Medical degree and Masters in Public Health degree. Along with his Bachelor’s degree, Andrés will earn a citation in Mandarin Chinese and French. He hopes to use his knowledge of languages to help large populations of the world that are in need of proper healthcare.