The Paraguayan pathologist Dr Antonio Cubilla Ramos, director of the Institute of Pathology and Research (Instituto de Patología e Investigación, or IPI) in Asunción, received the Fred W. Stewart Award 2026 in New York, awarded by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the study of penile cancer.
The award recognises a scientific career devoted over decades to research into tumours of the male genital tract. Cubilla’s work contributed to redefining the pathological classification of penile cancer and established foundations for improving its diagnosis, prognosis and treatment in international clinical practice.
“Sentimental value”
“Coming from the hospital where I trained in cancer pathology and being an award in honour of Professor Fred Stewart gives it sentimental value for me,” Cubilla told Ciencia del Sur, a Paraguayan digital science communication and journalism platform that he co-founded in 2017. “Professor Fred Stewart was practically the founder of one of the strongest cancer pathology departments in the world. I had the honour of knowing him in his later years and interacting with him, and of coming to know his intelligence, his modesty and his way of being.”
The Paraguayan researcher noted that the recognition also represents for him a moment of personal and professional stock-taking after an extensive scientific career.
International recognition
Cubilla has developed much of his scientific career in the study of the pathology of penile cancer, a field in which his research gained international recognition. His contributions form part of the evolution of the criteria used to understand, classify and clinically manage this disease.
Cubilla is one of the most productive Paraguayan scientists. He has dozens of international scientific publications that influence knowledge in his field.
Physician, researcher and communicator
Antonio Leopoldo Cubilla Ramos is a pathologist trained at the Universidad Nacional de Asunción, a researcher, science communicator, director and columnist for Ciencia del Sur. He received the National Science Prize of Paraguay in 2002 for his research on penile cancer and currently ranks among the most productive scientists in the country. He was a counsellor of the National Council of Science and Technology, CONACYT.
Cubilla was also honoured with the prestigious Koss Medal, awarded by the International Society of Urological Pathology. He is director of the Instituto de Patología e Investigación and has dozens of scientific publications and book chapters covering topics from medicine to higher education.
As a science communicator he began his career at the newspaper towards the end of the 1960s. In 2017 Antonio Cubilla was one of the co-founders of Ciencia del Sur, where he published columns and editorials on medicine, pathology, epistemology, philosophy of science and university education. Earlier in 2026, he was a speaker at the Paraguay Science Festival.
In 2023 the Paraguayan Government appointed him Scientific Adviser to the Presidency of the Republic, the first citizen to hold this post, which he continues to occupy at present.
