About
Our Vision
By 2022, Puerto Rico is a globally recognized innovation hub that develops, attracts, and retains scientists, technology entrepreneurs, and enterprises to unlock world class creativity and competitiveness.
Core Values
More than 15,000 people have participated in entrepreneurship and networking initiatives led or backed by the Trust.
Staff
Our staff consists of experienced professionals committed to the Trust’s mission. Their dedication and hard work stimulates the growth and development of innovation-driven enterprises, research and technology in Puerto Rico.
Lucy Crespo
Lucy Crespo
Julián Diaz
Julián Diaz
Lupe Vázquez
Lupe Vázquez
Maribel Pagán
Maribel Pagán
Karina Pérez
Karina Pérez
Jose Martinez
Jose Martinez
Raitza Carrasquillo
Raitza Carrasquillo
María Martínez
María Martínez
Dr. Greetchen Diaz
Dr. Greetchen Diaz
Dr. Marianyoli Ortíz
Dr. Marianyoli Ortíz
Dr. Kosmas Kretsos
Dr. Kosmas Kretsos
Dr. José F. Rodríguez
Dr. José F. Rodríguez
Dr. Carlos A. Sariol
Dr. Carlos A. Sariol
Dr. David L. Gulley
Dr. David L. Gulley
Dr. Abel Baerga
Dr. Abel Baerga
Sebastián Vidal
Sebastián Vidal
Marie Custodio
Marie Custodio
Jonathan Ortiz
Jonathan Ortiz
Jerry Melendez
Jerry Melendez
Denisse Rodríguez
Denisse Rodríguez
Gilberto Márquez
Gilberto Márquez
Lucas Arzola
Lucas Arzola
Andreica Maldonado
Andreica Maldonado
Wanda Fraguada
Wanda Fraguada
Belisa Bermúdez
Belisa Bermúdez
Astrid Navarro
Astrid Navarro
Astrid holds a bachelor degree in Business Administration- Accounting from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.
Dr. Hector Roberto Torres
Dr. Hector Roberto Torres
Dr. Angi Harris
Angi Harris
Leslie Maas
Leslie Maas Cortes
BRAIN TRUST Program Manager
Ms. Leslie Maas Cortes runs the day-to-day operations of the Puerto Rico Brain Trust for Tropical Disease Research and Prevention. She has worked closely with Dr. Jose Cordero to create the Trust since December of 2014. Prior to this she worked as a public health consultant for the Puerto Rico Governor’s Commission for Violence Prevention and the University of Puerto Rico federally funded Center for Youth Violence Prevention. Her main focus was on improved quality of data and monitoring of violent events and evaluation of interventions being conducted at the Center for Youth Violence Prevention. Leslie has also been an active volunteer for the US fund for UNICEF.
She served as coordinator of the Wisconsin Injury Control Research Center and director of the CDC funded regional Injury Control Research Center (ICRC) at the Medical College of Wisconsin from 1999 until 2003. She was responsible for operations at the ICRC and their mission was to reduce the burden of illness and death from injury related causes. Her specific research focused on water safety, injury risk to international travelers and patient safety efforts. In this role she gained experience in meeting planning, site visit preparations, and grant preparation.
Before beginning her career, Leslie completed her graduate work in the area of International Health and applied nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her masters work involved conducting extensive anthropometric data collection and nutritional surveys, qualitative field work and intervention development to reduce obesity and diabetes in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
More than $50 million invested in Puerto Rico’s research infrastructure.
Trustees
Our Council of Trustees is composed of distinguished professionals who support and oversee our work and provide guidance to ensure that the Trust is managed within its mission and vision.
Esteban Santos
Esteban Santos
Executive vice president, Operations.
Esteban Santos serves as executive vice president, Operations. Esteban is responsible for the Operations organization, which encompasses Manufacturing, Process Development, Quality, Engineering and Global Supply Chain.
Prior to this role, Santos was senior vice president, Manufacturing, responsible for operations at Amgen‘s commercial manufacturing locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Ireland, the Netherlands and Singapore. He held various leadership roles, including vice president, Drug Product; vice president, Site Operations; vice president, Manufacturing; and vice president, Engineering. Santos joined Amgen in 2007 as executive director, Manufacturing Technologies.
Before joining Amgen, Santos was site general manager for the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Cordis operation in Puerto Rico. Prior to J&J, Santos held several management positions in General Electric’s industrial and transportation businesses in Puerto Rico, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
Santos holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, and a Master of Science in Management from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Hartford, Connecticut.
Daniel Colón Ramos
Daniel Colón Ramos
Salvador Moncada
Salvador Moncada
From 1975 to 1995, Professor Moncada worked at the Wellcome Research Laboratories, first as Head of Prostaglandin Research and then as Director of Research. He described the structure of prostacyclin, which acts as an effective vasodilator and also prevents blood platelets from clumping. In 1980 came the discovery by Robert Furchgott of ‘endothelium-derived relaxing factor’ (EDRF) which causes smooth muscle in the vessel walls to relax. Moncada and his team showed that EDRF was, in fact, Nitric oxide, which has since become appreciated as a neurotransmitter, a modulator of inflammation and a sensor of cellular distress as well as a regulator of vessel tone. Nitric oxide is both the target and effector of a range of compounds now being used for the treatment of cardiovascular and rheumatic diseases. Professor Moncada was appointed Director of the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research at University College in 1995. He has won numerous awards from the international scientific community including a Dart/NYU Biotechnology Achievement Award, the Prince of Asturias Scientific and Technological Research Award and the Dr AH Heineken Prize for Medicine from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science.
Alfredo Casta
Alfredo Casta
Founder and Chairman of Cascades Technologies, Inc. (CTi), Alfredo Casta led the organization to become one of Inc. 5000 magazine’s fastest growing companies for eight years. Currently, CTi is ranked #3498 on the Inc. 5000 list. Mr. Casta combined his technical expertise, solid management skills and an unrelenting mission focus to accomplish results in the service of the American public. Under the tenants of Think – Build – Measure, CTi delivers IT Governance services, Technical Solutions, Data Management, Agile Development, and IT Organization Analysis including Cyber Security expertise to key cabinet agencies such as NIH, CDC, Labor, GSA, US Army, DHS, Justice, and Financial Regulatory Agencies.
Gualberto Medina
Gualberto Medina
José Lasalde Dominicci
José Lasalde Dominicci
Manuel Laboy
Manuel Laboy
Collaborators
The Trust has developed a dynamic network of collaborators that include a broad range of private and government organizations that bring together world-class professionals to develop and fulfill the Trust’s mission.
More than 100 researchers have benefited from our research funding program since 2014.
Donate
By supporting the Puerto Rico Science, Technology, and Research Trust, you have the opportunity to be part of exciting initiatives that advance Puerto Rico’s economy and its citizens’ well-being through innovation-based enterprises, science and technology, and its industrial base.
To donate, contact info@prsciencetrust.org
Documents
The Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust prepares annual reports each year, here are the official documents: