I decided to work in medical research as a kid, when I first realized how many people were dying too young from diseases we couldn’t treat. This situation horrified me. However, everybody behaved as if it was okay. During my 12 years of medical research, I got used to hearing “We can’t do much about it,” “Life is how it is,” or worse, “You can’t save the whole world and you should accept it.” Somehow, I chose not to care about what they said. I wanted to work for a better world rather than give up
and live a life without goals. And, one day, I got there! My team discovered a new alternative to treat incurable cancers using the patient’s immune system. The information, which was published in 2019, made mediatic waves, but nobody truly understood what we, immunologists, knew. If you can use the immune system against cancer, you can use it against any disease. This discovery left me with a head full of opportunities and the wish to carry on.
In Switzerland, citizens’ engagement in politics and society at any level is considered essential. Since I was elected deputy in my regional parliament at the age of 24, I have worked on questions of health. Just like everyone, I deeply wish for lower medication prices, and the election gave me the opportunity to work on that concretely. I also entered the Red Cross organization. Then, COVID-19 came to bring trouble into our lives. As a doctor in immunology, I got involved in medical and political decisions regarding the pandemic. This is where I truly realized how international organizations are useless when countries are scared. I saw governments steal masks and supplies in airports, rewrite contracts, and break supply chains.
Contrary to my disappointment, I knew we could do better. I am part of a generation of scientists inventing the drugs of tomorrow and fighting to guarantee that everyone will receive them everywhere. I dream of a world where some diseases, which are still killing children on all continents, will soon disappear. With a worldwide program of vaccination, cheaper access to essential drugs, and stronger medical infrastructure, I am convinced we will change the lives of many people.
A future where countries spend more money on health than on weapons is something I am ready to believe in. Working together rather than fighting. Healing wounds instead of making them. Are you with me?
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