Gerardo García Rivas is the first research professor from the Tec to receive the José Laguna García medal for his scientific work
Dr. Gerardo de Jesús García Rivas, a research professor from Tecnológico de Monterrey’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences, has been awarded the 2025 José Laguna Garcíamedal.
This award, named after the first bioenergetics researcher in Mexico, recognizes those who have made outstanding scientific contributions to the field.
Dr. García Rivas is the first academic from a private university in Mexico, and the first from Tec de Monterrey, to receive this award.
“This award is an opportunity to demonstrate the firm commitment that we at the Tec have to generating high-impact knowledge,” the doctor said.
When energy creates life
Bioenergetics is the scientific field that studies how cells produce and use energy, the vital force that sustains all biological and physiological functions of the human body.
“From its beginning, this discipline has sought to answer the question: how do organisms obtain and use energy to live?” said García Rivas.
Throughout its history, bioenergetics has transformed the understanding of cellular physiology and has gained international recognition.
Its global rise also bolstered its growth in Mexico, leading to the founding of the Mexican Society of Biochemistry in the 1950s.
“Within it, the Bioenergetics and Biomembranes branch was the first to be established, reflecting the importance of this field in national scientific development,” the doctor explained.
Over time, society began to recognize researchers making outstanding contributions, hence the José Laguna García medal.
The cell’s power plant
“I was 18 years old when I attended my first congress about bioenergetics and biomembranes,” recalled Dr. Gerardo García Rivas.
Since then, he has dedicated his career to this scientific field, focusing on mitochondria, known as the “power plant of the cell”.
His work, which has a particular focus on heart failure, aims to understand why heart cells stop producing the energy needed to fulfill their pumping function in the body when they become diseased.
“In simple terms, my research looks at how heart cells’ energy production changes during disease and how these alterations may become ways through which to improve patient health,” he explained.
Among his contributions, he has identified molecules that restore cellular function, serving as a basis for future treatments and medicines.
“We dream of impacting clinical practice, protecting mitochondria, and creating new tools to treat patients.”
“We dream of impacting clinical practice, protecting mitochondria, and creating new tools to treat patients.”
Collaboration that drives advances in treatment
Dr. García Rivas also emphasized that high-level research requires collective effort.
“This achievement isn’t just mine but that of a multidisciplinary team which shares the same vision, aspirations, and objectives,” he explained.
For over two decades, his research group has undertaken a solid line of work in bioenergetics and heart failure.
“We have progressed from understanding how mitochondria become diseased to developing therapeutic strategies that are now being directly applied to the patient,” he explained.
He added that awards such as the José Laguna García medal not only celebrate reaching a goal but also honor the effort of a whole team working to improve people’s health.
Despite the challenges that scientific research continues to face in terms of its credibility and recognition, Dr. Gerardo García Rivas views the future with optimism.
He emphasized that Tecnológico de Monterrey is going through an important moment in its growth as a knowledge-generating institution, where science is now moving beyond laboratories.
“The most valuable thing about all of this is knowing that we are training new generations who will continue on this path with passion, dedication, and commitment,” he concluded.
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