José María Cantú Garza (13 December 1938 – 12 November 2007) was a Mexican genetics researcher. Cantú was born in

Monterrey, Nuevo León Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

in 1938 and moved to

Reynosa, Tamaulipas Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico which also holds the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAlle ...

. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Medicine from the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM, 1965) and received a doctorate degree in Human Genetics from the

University of Paris I A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. He worked as a professor in the

University of Guadalajara The University of Guadalajara () is a public university, public research university located in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was originally established in 1586 and officially founded on 12 February 1791 as the Royal and Pontifical University of Gu ...

and served as head of the Genetics Division of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). He published about 400 papers and 80 book chapters.

Recognition

He was member of the

Mexican Academy of Sciences The Mexican Academy of Sciences ''(Academia Mexicana de Ciencias)'' is a non-profit organization comprising over 1800 distinguished Mexico, Mexican scientists, attached to various institutions in the country, as well as a number of eminent forei ...

, the Ethics Committee of

Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a ...

and collaborated with the Health Ministry of Argentina. In his last years he resided in South America, where he was member of the National Science Foundation of Uruguay ( CONACYT). He was president of several Mexican and Latin American associations and International Federation of Human Genetics Society (IFHGS). Cantú Garza was awarded

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

by Universidad Ricardo Palma de

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. In 2007 he was named Emeritus Research by Mexico's National Science Foundation, CONACYT. A hospital in

is also named after him.

References

People from Monterrey National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Members of the Mexican Academy of Sciences Mexican scientists 2007 deaths 1938 births University of Paris alumni {{Mexico-scientist-stub