Jacqueline M. Valverde-VIllegas 
 

For the last two years as an undergraduate student, I was doing my internship in the Faculty of Veterinary at UNMSM in Peru. I remember this period of my life as an exhilarating journey as an undergraduate student. In the lab of Molecular Biology and Genetics led by Dr Lenin Maturrano, there was a project to understand why a group of South American Camelids succumb to enterotoxemia and are affected severely while another remains resistant to infection or has a mild disease. Host genetic factors of the immune system were proposed, and since then, I experienced a kind of enthusiasm and eagerness to become a scientist in this field. I also learned alongside veterinarians, pharmacologists and clinicians about bacterial cell culture, diagnosis and pathogenesis of enterotoxemia or pneumonia. 

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In low-income countries like Peru, it is challenging to be a  full-time scientist. And when I completed the University, I needed to find a paid job. As a research assistant, I worked on sustainability and biodiversity projects where I also acquired administrative and lab management skills. While working, I was searching for scholarships abroad to pursue my postgraduate studies in the genetics and immunology field. I found the Immunogenetics and Immunobiology laboratory in Brazil, led by Dr. José Artur Bogo Chies, where I spent almost seven years and grew up as a scientist.

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Thanks to my mentors, Dr. Lenin Maturrano and Dr. José Artur Bogo Chies, I enjoy my scientific journey, and I am willing to continue discovering the genetic basis of this immuno-logic world.