Active Global Citizen |
Andres Finzi, PhD |
Tackling |
SDG #3 Good health and well-being
|
Role |
Associate Professor and HIV researcher, Canada Research Chair on retroviral entry at Université de Montréal |
Contribution |
Working to cure HIV by exposing HIV-infected cells to the immune system, so the body’s natural defenses can eliminate the infected cells and wipe out the virus
|
Quote |
In my laboratory I have students and researchers from all around the world. The knowledge industry knows no boundaries. To some extent AFS is like a big lab: in a lab researchers from all around the globe are brought together to address a specific scientific question. AFS does the same, it brings people from all around the world with the common objective of improving communication and understanding between different cultures.
|
Andrés Finzi, Ph.D., was a boy when he learned about HIV from his mother, a doctor who had treated one of the first children diagnosed with HIV in France. He is now working to expose HIV-infected cells to the immune system, so the body’s natural defenses can eliminate the infected cells and wipe out the virus.
Andres is originally from Argentina, and as a teenager he studied abroad with AFS in Canada. Speaking of how participating in an AFS exchange program and developing global competence impacted his life, Andres says:
“AFS changed my life in many ways: besides the normal excitement of discovering a new country (Canada), a rich Culture and very welcoming people, it broadened my career horizons. First, I learned French and English, very valuable languages in today’s world. But most importantly, I discovered Montreal, a vibrant and multicultural student city with top researchers in every discipline.
It is without hesitation that after my AFS intercultural exchange I decided to come back to Montreal to study microbiology at Université de Montréal. After completing my graduate studies in the same institution, I did postdoctoral training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA). I came back to Montreal in 2011 as professor at Université de Montréal where I opened my lab to develop new strategies to fight HIV-1.”
Read more about Andres’ research
Connect and network with Andres as well as other Active Global Citizens at the AFS Global Conference: Active Global Citizenship—and How to Educate for It, 9-11 October in Montreal.