Dr. Federico Sánchez was well-known for being a great man with boundless generosity, enthusiastic, entrepreneur, outstanding teacher, husband and father like no other, and an excellent researcher.
Federico started as a teacher at the School of Chemistry UNAM in 1973 and he has since taught in different bachelor, master and Ph.D. programs. In 2003, he was a founding lecturer of the new Undergraduate Program on Genomic Sciences with which he was associated for more than 10 years.
In 1981, Federico started his scientific career when he joined the Center for Research on Nitrogen Fixation at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (CEFINI-UNAM), currently known as Center for Genomic Sciences (CCG-UNAM). Here Federico developed the Department of Plant Molecular Biology. Since then, his scientific work and teaching activities underpinned the consolidation of Plant Molecular Biology in Mexico. This early impact on Mexican academia led him to be awarded the National Award in Plant Biotechnology in 1987.
His research was mainly focused on the interaction between legumes and symbiotic microorganisms, such as as Rhizobium and fungi belonging to Glomeromycota phylum. Federico published more than 100 research articles in high impact journals reaching close to 1900 citations. He was also part of the team that published the sequence of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) genome at the beginning of this year.
Federico contributed much to his scientific community. He was a keen organizer of national and international congresses and meetings. He served as President of the Mexican Society of Biochemistry (1994-1996) and the International Society of Plant-Microbe Interactions (IS-MPMI). Additionally, he was a member of different scientific organizations, such as as the National Academy of Sciences, American Society of Plant Biologists and member of the International Board of IS-MPMI. Moreover, Federico was editor of journals, including MPMI (1998-2003), PLANTA (1992-1997), Asia Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (1996-1999).
Only a few people have been admired, respected and beloved as was Dr. Federico Sánchez. He is certainly a reference to follow for future generations. There is no doubt that everyone honored with his friendship will remember him forever.
Dr. Miguel Lara and Mr. Neftaly Cruz-Mireles, UNAM, Mexico