Biography

I was born and raised in Lima, Peru. I moved to the UK to pursue a career as a research scientist committed to have a positive impact on the quality of life of patients worldwide. With my grandmother having been recently cured from skin carcinoma and a family history of breast cancer, I became actively involved in cancer research. However, I became aware of less treatable, devastating conditions with unknown causes, such as neurodegenerative disorders. These are becoming a major threat to public health due to the phenomenon of the ageing population. My work at Cambridge will therefore focus on the study of the early events that lead to neuronal death in Parkinson’s disease. I hope to identify agents that can delay disease progression since current treatments only address the symptoms, rather than the causes of neurodegeneration. Additionally, I aim to establish links with centres in Latin America to promote research and the role of women in science back home.

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jessica-santivanez/88/84b/864