César Abadía Barrero, associate professor of anthropology, was awarded the 2024 Alejandro Ángel Escobar National Prize in Social and Human Sciences in Bogotá, Colombia, on Wednesday, Oct. 2. 

He received the honor for his research detailed in the book “Health in Ruins: The Capitalist Destruction of Medical Care at a Colombian Maternity Hospital.” 

The book investigates the effects of private sector involvement in Colombia’s health system during the 1990s, focusing on El Materno, the country’s oldest maternity and neonatal health center. 

The Alejandro Ángel Escobar Foundation presents the National Science and Solidarity Awards annually to recognize the most innovative and socially impactful scientific work by Colombian scientists and organizations dedicated to solidarity causes. 

Established nearly 70 years ago, the award is named for businessman Alejandro Ángel Escobar, who created these incentives inspired by the Nobel Prizes and the Rockefeller Foundation.