Delia Rodriguez-Amaya, professor at the Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA) at Unicamp, and Renato Terzi, from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM), received on Thursday, the 6th, the titles of emeritus professors at Unicamp. The deliveries took place at different ceremonies. Delia was honored by the University in an extraordinary session of the University Council (Consu) in the morning. Terzi received his title in the afternoon. Rector José Tadeu Jorge presided over both sessions.
Delia Rodriguez-Amaya
Professor Delia Rodriguez-Amaya's enviable resume was highlighted several times during the morning ceremony. The scientist and author of more than 250 publications in the area of food analysis and chemistry and is one of the most cited names in international literature among researchers at the University.
In gratitude, Rodriguez-Amaya, who is also a poet “in her spare time”, recited lines from a poem she wrote and which was titled “Lessons learned”. According to her, the poem brings forward the principles that guided her professional life. “As a child I was taught that time is a treasure, never recovered once lost. Emphatic advice from my father: that honesty be preserved no matter what the cost. By ensuring this virtue, the others will come naturally. A memory from my mother: the golden rule must always prevail; success is true only when achieved through competence and work, never stepping on others”.
The teacher also stated that she asked herself several times how she came to be internationally recognized. “My answer is: through my publications. It is very gratifying to know that a work, an article, a book, that I wrote in a corner of Unicamp, is read and used all over the world”. Rodriguez-Amaya ended her thanks with another poem about family and friends. At the end of the ceremony she received, in addition to the title, a necklace of natural flowers.
The ceremony was led by the rector José Tadeu Jorge and also had the participation of the deans of Research, Gláucia Pastore, and of University Development, Leandro Palermo, as well as the director of the Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA), Antonio Meirelles and the head from the FEA Food Science department, Juliana Pallone.
Tadeu Jorge emphasized that the emeritus professor is now part of the honorable gallery of professors who helped build the pillars that allowed Unicamp to stand out in Brazil and around the world. He mentioned the almost 8 citations that the teacher had counted, up to the moment of the ceremony. "All of us professors know what this means. It's an impactful number for any professor.” The dean also recalled that Rodriguez-Amaya received the Zeferino Vaz Academic Recognition Award three times, considered one of the university's most important.
Pro-Rector Gláucia Pastore highlighted the emeritus professor's decisive participation in international events held by FEA. For Pastore, Rodriguez-Amaya, with great simplicity, placed Brazil on the international scene in food studies. The academic production of the professor who projects Unicamp to the world was also highlighted by the director of FEA, Antonio Meirelles, and by professor Hélia Harumi Sato, who gave a greeting on behalf of Consu.
Finishing the tribute was a performance by musicians Felipe Macedo and Weber Marely.
Curriculum lattes
Dr. Delia Rodriguez-Amaya is currently President of International Academy of Food Science and Technology (2014-2016). She is the first woman to hold this position. Elected fellow in 2003 for her outstanding international performance, she has been a member of the Academy's Executive Board since 2008. From 1977 to 2010, Dr. Delia was a professor at the Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA) at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). She was honored by four Food Engineering classes; supervisor of 48 defended master's and doctoral theses; Head of the Food Science Department; Coordinator of Postgraduate Programs (Masters and Doctorate) at FEA (Food Science, Food Technology, Food Engineering and Nutrition Science) for two terms; Coordinator of the FEA Teaching Committee for four terms. She is the author of 249 scientific publications (books, chapters, complete works), most of them in international circulation. Several of her articles were on the top 10 most cited and/or top 10 most read lists in international journals. Her three books published in Washington DC are also widely cited in international journals: A Guide to Carotenoid Analysis in Foods (974 citations), Carotenoids and Food Preparation (299 citations), HarvestPlus Handbook for Carotenoid Analysis (392 citations). He presented more than 240 works in more than 25 countries, gave more than 250 invited lectures in 30 countries and taught short courses in several countries such as the Philippines, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Tanzania and China, sponsored mainly by FAO and HarvestPlus. She coordinated 25 projects financed by national and international funding bodies, including two PRONEX projects (Support Program for Centers of Excellence). He was a Category 1A Research Productivity Fellow for 20 years. Participated in several FAO-WHO Expert Consultation Meetings and ad hoc committees of the Ministry of Health. He was a representative of the area at CAPES and a member of the Food Science and Technology Advisory Committee at CNPq for two terms. She is also recognized for organizing high-level international scientific conferences. She has received numerous awards, including the 2015 CNPq Emeritus Researcher Title, the 2012 Presidential Award Pamana ng Pilipino (Philippine Heritage), 2010 East-West Center Distinguished Alumni Award, the Zeferino Vaz recognition award three times (1994, 1997, 2003), the André Tosello award (2005) and the PAFT (Philippine Association of Food Technologists) 50th Anniversary Recognition Award (2010). Even after her retirement, she continues to stand out for her international activities, as scientific advisor to the International Foundation for Science based in Sweden, member of the Governing Councilil and committees (Nominations, Scientific Committees) da International Union of Food Science and Technology, member of the editorial board of the periodicals Current Opinion in Food Science, Frontiers in Nutrition, Trends in Food Science and Technology, Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, Food Control, African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, Archivos Latinoamericano de Nutrición, Food and Nutrition and Magazine of the Adolfo Lutz Institute. He was a member of the Editorial Board of six other journals, including Journal of Food Composition and Analysis for a decade (2001-2011). She is a senior visiting professor at CAPES at the Federal University of Fronteira Sul. She has a degree BS Food Technology, Araneta University (Philippines), Magna Cum Laude; MS Food Science, University of Hawaii as a scholarship holder East West Center, USA; Ph.D. Agricultural Chemistry, University of California, Davis, as a scholarship holder Board of Regents da University of California; and postdoctoral, University of rhode island as a fellow at NIH, USA. He is the sole author of the book Food Carotenoids: Chemistry, Biology and Technology (IFT-John Wiley, 2016).
Renato Terzi
Terzi's dream was to have the best intensive care unit (ICU) in the country in the Unicamp hospital area. The dream is practically consolidated and today it is recognized that this was due to the tireless work of surgeon Renato Giuseppe Giovanni Terzi, full professor at the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM). This was one of Terzi's many achievements that earned him the title of Professor Emeritus at Unicamp, a distinction he received from Dean José Tadeu Jorge at the request of the Department of Surgery at FCM. More than that, the grant was awarded due to the relevant services provided by Terzi in favor of the development of the institution.
A large contingent of people were in the Consu room to pay homage to Terzi, including family members, FCM alumni, employees, teachers and guests. In addition to the dean, the dean of Undergraduate Studies Luis Alberto Magna and the director of FCM Ivan Toro participated in the work's steering committee.
All speeches emphasized the entrepreneurial spirit of Terzi who, after having “retired” from his activities as a surgeon, dedicated himself entirely to the development of intensive therapy, given that in Campinas for decades the city had been devoid of Intensive Care Units (ICUs). ).
Surgeon Nelson Andreollo also recalled that, in the old Santa Casa, where Unicamp originally operated, surgeries were initially carried out without proper ICU support. “We didn’t even have respirators so that post-surgery patients could recover more quickly.”
Today, after 30 years of operation, Unicamp's ICU has 50 beds (expandable to 66) and 315 employees allocated to the following functions: 3 teaching doctors, 43 doctors on duty and day laborers, 73 nurses, 169 nursing technicians and support staff, and 27 physiotherapists. It is one of the three largest intensive care units in Brazil.
Andreollo praised Terzi for the contributions he brought to Unicamp, such as the implementation of the respiratory physiotherapy course and the surgical metabolism course in the Department of Surgery. After his retirement in 2007, he organized and ran the first postgraduate course Postgraduate Course in Intensive Medicine, through the Terzius Institute, coordinated by him. In 2008, he professionalized the administrative structure of the postgraduate course in Adult Intensive Care Medicine.
For Andreollo, Terzi is an example to always be followed. “Without certainty, it is the most important piece of my CV at the University”, he highlighted.
Ivan Toro highlighted that Terzi was a watershed in the country's Department of Surgery and Intensive Care. Magna, who was a student of Terzi, stated that she followed his career and that he certainly deserves this title and other honors.
Rector José Tadeu Jorge described it as no easy task to honor Terzi, after hearing everything he accomplished at HC, FCM and Unicamp. “We are grateful for such a brilliant story whose contribution allowed the University to achieve today’s excellence. Professor Terzi demonstrates in practice the correctness of the conception of Zeferino Vaz’s initial project”, he said. “His trajectory at all times involves teaching, research and extension. Our emphatic congratulations for projecting Unicamp into academic and international society. You deserve this title with distinction and praise”, he highlighted.
Renato Terzi gave a broad and well-articulated speech. He thanked everyone and introduced his speech by saying that this is a precious moment in his life. “This title really honors and makes me proud”, he assured. He thanked Andreollo for his testimony about him and reciprocated by pointing out that he had always admired Andreollo for his humanitarian care for his patients.
He recalled that he received his medical degree from Zeferino Vaz at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, at USP. When discussing the beginning of his career, he commented on his wife Sylvia Bueno Terzi, now deceased, who was also a professor at Unicamp at the Institute of Language Studies (IEL). Sylvia worked for years with Youth and Adult Education (EJA), mainly in the area of Literacy, and was coordinator of the Solidarity Literacy Program in needy municipalities in Alagoas, Ceará, Tocantins, Sergipe and Paraíba from 1997 to 2011.
“Sylvia was my companion for almost 50 years. I followed her work. I owe her the pride of having my three children: Renato, Eduardo and Cristina”, she emphasized. He was so moved that he did not continue the story about her.
Terzi was the surgeon who treated Zeferino Vaz in his last moments of life, before being transferred to São Paulo, where he died from coronary complications. He was also the one who hired the first doctors to work in the HC ICU. “Everyone started with heartbreaking work and dedication. We started in 1986 with the first patient – a post-operative kidney transplant,” he said.
He remembered his friends and each professional who was by his side in activities related to intensive care and his work in the Department of Surgery. He spoke about his vision of the future of medicine. He highlighted that today's young people, in search of information and accustomed to surfing the internet and social media, go elsewhere when the text is long and boring. “With new pedagogical paradigms, voluminous medical treatises are in the process of extinction”, he lamented.
Today, rapid access to information is required, he continued. “The information must be complete, precise, concentrated and current. The search for articles from international literature is only of interest to academics when they prepare their theses and scientific works.”
He believes that, with activities at the bedside, it is impossible to fully update oneself and read the thousands of articles in all scientific journals, “especially because articles of low scientific quality can generate more doubts than certainties”. He believes that this is precisely why international entities have produced consensus, guides and guidelines. With these tools, combined with distance education and realistic simulation, it will be possible to serve this new, more “individualistic” generation.
“More than obtaining information, students should see the master as an example to be followed. I see that this model is being lost for several reasons: the economic crisis and new forms of teaching contracts in public and private universities. They have discouraged full dedication. What will medical teaching be like in ten years? I am sure that great challenges will be imposed on future teachers, who will have to adapt in some way to the new reality”, he pointed out.
Renato Terzi graduated in Medicine from USP in 1960. He completed a residency in General Surgery at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in New York (1962-1966) and in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, from 1967 -1968. He received a doctorate in Surgery from Unicamp in 1973 and a postdoctoral degree from Harvard University, at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston from 1981 to 1982.
