I am an infectious disease doctor from Brazil. After finishing my MSc in Control of Infectious Diseases last year at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine I worked as a research assistant in the Cure Me team, which focuses on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Although this was not my area of expertise, the experience inspired me to continue with research. Following this, I applied for a position at LSHTM as a clinical research fellow with the Leprosy team. It felt like a natural transition to continue to work for the school that embraced and inspired me.
I have many years of experience working with underserved populations. During my medical training, I was encouraged not only to participate in research but also to engage in social health programmes that provided me with valuable insight and experience. Although Brazil is a middle-income country, the economic inequality is a severe problem and I was challenged to find solutions to social problems and shortages of resources without compromising good results according to evidence-based medicine.
I enrolled in the PhD program in 2018. Currently, I am focusing on writing my thesis. Howerver, during the past 5 years, alongside my work tasks, I was co-editor of the research degree (RD) students newsletter, RD representative and member of the equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) committee as a student representative.