Enrico Gratton Wins Argentina’s 2024 LELOIR Award
June 11, 2025 - Enrico Gratton has won the 2024 LELOIR Award in the field of exact and natural sciences. The award is the highest honor given to a foreign researcher by Argentina’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. Every year, the ministry presents the award to a distinguished global researcher who has supported the growth of Argentina's scientific and technological development.
Enrico Gratton has made a lasting contribution to the advancement of cutting-edge microscopy in Argentina through his longstanding collaboration with Professor Laura Estrada. Their joint efforts led to the establishment of the only operational two-photon 3D orbital tracking microscope in Latin America, significantly expanding the country’s capacity for high-resolution, live-cell imaging and quantitative biophysics. His commitment also extended well beyond Buenos Aires, supporting the development of advanced optical techniques and laboratory capabilities in provinces across the country, fostering national networks and reducing the technological gap in advanced microscopy.
Argentina’s National Institute of Industrial Technology Executive Director Marcelo Marzocchini said the award recognizes Gratton’s “significant contributions to the strengthening of our National Scientific and Technological System, as well as invaluable efforts in fostering its engagement with the scientific systems of the Italian Republic and the United States of America.”
Gratton is an UCI Distinguished Professor Emeritus in biomedical engineering and professor of physics and astronomy. He led the first national facility, the Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics (LFD), dedicated to fluorescence spectroscopy. At the LFD, scientists use fluorescence to study cellular processes. These include protein aggregation, membrane interaction, and migration of cells to track moving particles and analyze collagen formation and deformation. The research provides insight into cellular function and can be applied to the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. The LFD is an 8,000 square foot state-of-the-art laboratory that also offers free technical assistance to visiting scientists.
Gratton’s work spans across biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology, nuclear medicine and biomedical engineering. Under his guidance, more than 50 students have earned doctorates and many now occupy critical roles in academia and at research institutions.
The LELOIR awards honors foreign scientists, researchers, and technologists who have contributed to strengthening the scientific and technological capabilities of Argentina. The award is named after Luis F. Leloir, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1970.
- Natalie Tso
