Juan de Pablo 0:07 Thank you for joining me for the first lecture in the University of Chicago-Brazil collaboration in science lecture series, a cross border journey to advance breast cancer research. Before we begin a few housekeeping terms, to listen to today's program in Portuguese, click on the interpretation icon at the bottom of your screen and select Portuguese. The event will conclude with Audience Question and Answers. Please feel free to use the q&a function at the bottom of your screen to submit questions in either Portuguese or English throughout the event. Now, it is more important than ever to engage across disciplines and regions to seek innovative sustainable solutions to the problems facing humanity. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences recently published a report outlining the imperatives for us investment and engagement in international collaborations to drive science forward. The report concludes that even though there are challenges to international collaboration, international large scale scientific endeavors are an important component of our nation's overall science and technology enterprise. The Chicago Brazil collaboration in science lecture series, will explore these same themes by showcasing how scholars, the University of Chicago, and their counterparts in Brazil, have established cross border collaborations to seek solutions to the ever evolving challenges that we face as a society. Today, we will have the opportunity to hear from two pioneering researchers about how their ongoing collaboration is advancing breast cancer research by identifying genetic commonalities among people living in diverse regions of the globe. Before we begin our conversation, I would like to thank Consul General Belli for joining us today and for his support of this series. Through the innovation diplomacy program. I am Juan de Pablo. I am the Vice President for global initiatives, science strategy, national laboratories and innovation at the University of Chicago. Consul General Belli has served as the Consul General of Brazil in Chicago since August of 2020. He's the author of two books and a career diplomat having served at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington and the Brazilian mission to the United Nations in New York. He has also held numerous positions in the president foreign ministry, and as serve as the Brazilian embassies in Buenos Aires. And without further ado, Consul General Belli. Benoni Belli 3:11 Thank you so much, Dr. Juan de Pablo for your kind words, they will just repeat in Portuguese then your instructions about interpretation and then I'm not sure if everyone knows about that. [speaks in Portuguese]. Thank you so much once more for this partnership. Dr. Juan Pablo, I thank the University of Chicago Global for this important initiative that was a product of our conversation with you actually is a partnership between the Consulate General of Brazil under the Foreign Ministry program on innovation, diplomacy of innovation, and the UChicago who has a long standing collaboration with Brazil. And we are really proud to sponsor this collaboration science series and this program. And this is the first event of a series aimed at strengthening the UChicago and Brazil cooperation and joint efforts to advance science. Today we'll hear from the renowned doctors on breast cancer research, Dr. Rodrigo Santa Cruz and Dr. Olopade. On and I thank you both for being here and making room in your busy agenda, to talk to us about your collaboration and your research to advance science in this very important field, which is a priority for all governments and societies in the world. We want this series of events to inspire by example we want to deepen Brazil Chicago connection in science And open new avenues of cooperation among our scientists and on and off also, between our innovation ecosystems. No doubt science and innovation play a central role, as Dr. De Pablo has mentioned, in ensuring better quality of life, more prosperity and a sustainable future for all of us. We hope that this will be just the first step in a promising journey of enhancing cooperation to the benefit of Brazil, the United States and humanity as a whole. With this upbeat message, I thank you once again for your attention and participation. Today's event, I hope to see you soon in other events of this series. And the consulate will be here to sponsor and participate and cooperate and be a bridge between UChicago and the Brazilian scientific community. Thank you so much. Juan de Pablo 6:03 Thank you Consul General Belli for your remarks. And of course, I also look forward to the opportunities for engagement with you and with your country. For today's conversation, we will hear from Dr. Funmi Olopade and Dr. Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini, about a collaborative research on breast cancer in women of African descent in Brazil. They will highlight the inception of the collaboration and describe the research journey that has brought them to where they are today. Dr. Olufunmilayo (Funmi) Olopade is the Walter Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Associate Dean for global health, and director of both the Center for Global Health and the Center for Clinical cancer genetics. She's a pioneer in cancer genetics, focusing on the root causes of aggressive breast cancer in women of African ancestry, and the significance of comprehensive risk reducing strategies to prevent cancer and to alleviate global health disparities. In 2005, she received the MacArthur Foundation genius fellowship. And more recently, she was honored as a giant in cancer care for prevention genetics. Dr. Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini is a clinical oncologist, an oncogeneticist at Oncologia D'or. His main area of research is on hereditary cancer syndromes, genetic counseling, cancer screening and prevention, cancer, molecular genetics, and personalized medicine. It was a visiting scholar at the Center for Clinical cancer genetics, and a fellow at the McLean Center for Clinical medical ethics at the University of Chicago. Most recently, he has been organizing the cancer risk assessment program at Oncologia D'or. To begin the conversation today, Funmi, could you provide some context for today's discussion? I understand that you co chaired the working group on emerging science partners. As part of the initiative outline in the report I mentioned. Can you briefly describe the opportunities for us resilient collaboration, and then speak more specifically to you and Rodrigo's collaborative research. Funmi? Funmi Olopade 8:43 thank you very much Juan for the excellent introduction. And for asking me to really talk about the larger policy questions that we been I've been fortunate to participate in during this pandemic. As you know, after this pandemic, we're talking about really ensuring this equity and justice in biomedical research enterprise. So as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences panel to examine how the US can be better partners in international scientific collaboration. This was commissioned by the Academy, we had planned to do convening all over the world to go and engage with scientists. And, and unfortunately, the first meeting we had was in, in Ghana, and then we couldn't go anywhere else. So we did all of the convenience virtually. And so I've traveled the world, engaging with scientists all over the world, but it wasn't until we actually got to Brazil, and then are Latin America. And I felt oh my goodness, look at all the science that going on, on our southern border. And I had not even been aware of it. And I've been to Brazil many times at the invitation of my colleagues in the oncology community. But I had no idea that they had a large scale facility that was doing amazing science in São Paulo. And so in convening with our scientists at the southern border, I then saw that there was a lot that we had in common that we had not actually taken advantage of. And so I was excited to work with the, the collaborators in São Paulo, and then to look at the large scale facility that I think is in Campinas, and so many other places that are really engaging in bioinformatics and data science. And so that really got me very excited about the possibilities, to engage not just our colleagues in Brazil, but our colleagues on the southern border. That is, after this epic pandemic, we know we're in this together, whether you're from Mexico, Peru, doesn't matter where you are, it was just wonderful to be able to engage. I also was excited to see that other countries, for example, South Korea, the scientists there were very excited that America had helped them rebuild after the war. And now they want to pay forward. So I'm really excited about the possibility that the United States is now willing to re-engage with a global scientific community. And I can tell you, because of my, my favorite country in the world, beyond Nigeria, is Brazil, because of my African ancestry because of the music because of the language. I love Brazil. And that was why when Rodrigo I don't know where he found me, but he when he said, you want to come in and work with me in cancer genetics, I didn't hesitate to say yes, come along. And so I think it's really important that we engage as American scientists with emerging science partners. And so this three part report is going to be talking about how America can be better partners in terms of scientific collaboration. So I really thank you, Juan for making this happen. on your watch as Vice President at the University of Chicago, and I want to thank everyone in UChicago global, because they really supported us to engage with people all over the world. So that's my story. Roderigo What's your story? Juan de Pablo 13:06 What's your story, Rodrigo? Benoni Belli 13:10 So, Juan de Pablo 13:12 and if I may add, Rodrigo, can you also tell us what first brought you to the University of Chicago? Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini 13:20 Sure, sure. First of all, we'd like to thank the opportunity to be here. Juan and also Funmi it's a great pleasure to be part of this initiative, fantastic initiative from global Chicago and the Brazilian consulate. So I I started my fellowship in medical oncology, and I was already interested in cancer genetics and and in genetic counseling. And in Brazil, we did not have any specific track for you to to really learn how to do this in the best way possible. So we started to establish a cancerous clinic at Instituto do Câncer do Estado, it's a it's a, it's an institute of cancer in São Paulo. And after two years that I was trying to stablish this cancer risk clinic in collaboration with a few colleagues. And I realized that I need to learn how to do it, do this with the giants of the cancer genetics. And I is the head of this institution. His name is Paolo Hoff. And to to help me to connect with someone in the United States, so I could spend some time to learn how to do this, and then came Funmi. So Paolo Hoff and Funmi they meet each other during the ASCO meeting the American Cancer Society of Clinical Oncology meeting. And then Paulo Hoff asked her to allow me to spend some time with her shadowing her in their lab, in her lab, and in her cancer risk clinic. And I did so. So I spent two months during my medical oncology fellowship as an observer at the University of Chicago, and during this two months, we really established I think, a very good relationship with Funmi and, and her staff in the lab, they are really wonderful. And then before leaving Chicago, I asked her, come back, baby for a year. She said, why not - do that? There, let's let's work on that. And, and eight months later, I think we, we started to work on that again, and, and then everything happened. So I can spend a lot of time here that tell you how we did, we did that. But I think it was really Funmi's initiative to be generous and open to foreign, young medical oncologist, and I saw that she does this with so many others, fellows from around the world, and given the opportunity to really collaborate and to learn cancer genetics. And I think that's a that was the main point that really changed my career, I think that when I started to, to connect with Funmi, and to really learn how to do cancer genetics, I saw that I could come back to my country after that, and really help them to try to build something similar or more personalized to the Brazilian community. After all, that, after all, that I've learned with Juan de Pablo 17:28 so let me build on that idea a little bit more, how has this experience at Chicago change the way you think and impacted your own activities in Brazil? Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini 17:41 So we didn't have any cancer risk clinic, when I started my medical fellowship. So, we started to do that using our own resources and trying to do our best, but I did not have the experience to to know how very well established cancerous clinic worked. And then I think the first thing is how does one cancerous clinic work? Because and then, when I arrived at University of Chicago, for example, they have so many genetic counselors and also nurse practitioners and physician assistants and we do not have this in Brazil. So in Brazil, we have to do this by ourselves in collaboration with our nurses and, and how to come back to Brazil and and use the the flow that I saw in the clinic here in Brazil. So, then I started to think how to organize this in our own way of work. And and and I could not have thought about that, once I did not have seen this before happening in a different place. And during the this this this year that I spent a University of Chicago FUnmi, showed me also different, she introduced me to so many other researchers and medical oncologists involved in cancer genetics that I had had the opportunity to, to visit them. For example, where I don't know for me remembers that I remember this very well. I asked her to visit Henry Lynch and she said yes, let's go there. Just buy our tickets. We are going next week, then and Henry Lynch is like the father of cancer genetics. And I spent one wonderful day in his facility and discussing about cancer genetics. This is a life changing experience and this shaped the way I could understand cancer genetics, and how could I use everything that I was seeing and learning to modulate that how to do this in Brazil? Juan de Pablo 20:15 wonderful story Rodrigo. Thank you for sharing that. Funmi, throughout my own career, as a scientist, I have seen how something as simple as a young exchange of scholars can serve as a catalyst for truly impactful global initiatives. I think young people are the key. That is a case here with Rodrigo. For me, I'd love to hear a little bit more about ways in which the Center for Global Health and your own research team are working to foster international collaboration more generally, more broadly. Funmi Olopade 20:53 Yeah. So one, you know, the thing that really has kept me in Chicago, is because I actually think Chicago is the ideal laboratory to do work that has global impact, right, US is a nation of immigrants, and we all come from somewhere, or we have ancestry somewhere. And as I shared earlier on, if you're Yoruba Yoruba Kingdom extends from Nigeria, where in our own culture, we be believed that God actually, life started [inaduible]. So as a geneticist, if you want to understand the root causes of everything, genetics, you've got to go back to Africa. And as I sort of started thinking about the African diaspora, and we think about genetic mixture, and how to actually gain knowledge to get us to precision medicine, there was nothing else to do other than to trace the African diaspora across the Atlantic all the way to the Americas. And in London, in Brazil, you find that Brazil is almost, you know, geographically identical to Nigeria, if you actually look at the geography. When I my first visit to Brazil, I took my children during Thanksgiving in America, and we landed in Bahia here. And right from the airport, the taxi driver who took cause was speaking like a Yoruba was generous, like a Yoruba, the music on my children said, this people must be Yoruba. Well, it turns out that, in fact, some of the slaves that left Africa landed in Bahia, and that's where Salvador with Roderigo practices. So we then really thought, this is actually really going to be a wonderful collaboration, where if we can train Rodrigo to go back and make genetics relevant to oncology practice, then he and they tire Brazilian oncology community can rapidly adopt some of the things that we're trying to do in the US to promote equity in terms of studying diseases that affect people of African ancestry. And so he went back, you didn't tell them that you went back and you actually got a PhD. And not only did he get his PhD, he then developed the Brazilian genetic cancer genetics network. So it's now larger than what I started, because he now has a population and a whole country that is trained that is, you know, so the innovation, that I think, you know, Roderigo was able to bring, I couldn't do it in the US, because we already had 30 years of established, you know, way of doing things, spending a lot of money. You know, I have 10 different people doing things that, you know, he had to innovate his way out to get all of Brazil covered, right. And I loved the fact that he had actually volunteered and worked in the Amazon, right? Because there was the sense of community a sense of duty. And for me, going back to work in Africa, was also a sense of giving back because I had been inspired by Dr. Rowley, who, before me ran a laboratory in cancer genetics, and shared our knowledge with postdoctoral fellows all from all over the world. So I was a postdoc in her lab, with fellows from Germany, fellows from Japan and Asia. So when I started and really established the Center for Global Health, the idea was that we were going to use science and technology and innovation to solve of the most, you know, challenging problems of the world. And because we have Argonne National Laboratories, and I have computer scientists that can help me move data all over the world, I don't see that there should be any boundaries with the kinds of science that we're able to do. So we're able to really push the frontiers of scientific discovery. And, and by engaging young scholars. Now, Roderigo is no longer so young anymore, because he came in 2015, or 20, as well. 2012, right. And in in since 2012, is really transformed cancer genetics in Brazil. And I mean, that's just what it means to be a mentor to somebody because then your mentee then surpasses you, which is great. Juan de Pablo 25:57 Not so young anymore. Okay, Rodrigo. just heard, Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini 26:03 I have one thing to add. And I would, I would also use this opportunity to, to mention someone that was really important in my during that that time in Chicago, his name is Mark Siegler. He's in the audience. And he's the head of the medical ethics in University of Chicago, so when I asked Funmi that I wanted to spend one year in Chicago, she said, One thing to me, okay, you can come by you, you will have to do the medical ethics fellowship, I think it's going to be important for your training. And I said to her, really? in Brazil, we do not have a medical ethics fellowship is something that does not have you, what does it mean? And then she said, just go ahead and start a start to talk with Mark in on all the staff was with with him, I really want you to, to do this fellowship. And then I had to apply, it was not easy, I had so many steps that I had to pass. And then and then, finally, they accepted me. And and this was also a life changing experience. I use the knowledge that I gained during this year, every day in my place, to see patients to do shared decision making, and also to discuss how to implement policies here in Brazil, and that we are going to show you how we are going to use genetic testing in our population. All this kind of discussions, I would not be able to do without all the basic and fundamental information that I gained during this fellowship. And I think I just wanted to to to thank you also in public for Dr. Mark Siegler, for this wonderful opportunity. Funmi Olopade 28:15 Yeah. And so one, if I may just add to that. So when we talk about that, what how easy it is to do research at the University of Chicago, we sometimes forget the humanities. And because we want to do genomics research, and we want to do data science, we could not let Rodrigo come here without understanding fundamental principles around justice in genetics. And so when I told him, he needed to do an ethics fellowship, he had no idea why I wanted him to do that. And it's because I really know that if you're doing genetic genetics research on vulnerable populations, right, and the underserved, and where you're trying to eliminate disparities, you have to have a grounding in the humanities to be able to do that. And there's no better way to get people to understand the humanistic aspects of medicine than going through our medical ethics fellowship. And so talent is very important. And Brazil, and Roderigo was a really great talent, very smart, ready to learn, but he needed to be guided. And that's why one of the things that we have now established based on the successes we've had is really the Susan and Richard Kiphart Center for Global Health, which will integrate the the social determinants of health, right in a new center. So it's not just about the science alone. There's people behind that science. They're underserved, under On just studied populations, and if we're gonna really have our research have global impact, we need to have interdisciplinary approach to it. And U of C, of course is built on interdisciplinary, training interdisciplinary collaborations. And so as much as I talk to my colleagues at the National Labs, I also spend a lot of good time with Mark Siegler, who makes me humble by saying before you get the genetics out of, you know, your head, let's study the ethics of it. So now we actually have a fellowship on ethics of big data science, because we know that they are human beings behind all of the things that we're trying to do. And we must promote equity and justice and the way we approach our research. Unknown Speaker 30:52 Here. So in a moment, we're going to move to the lightning round of questions. But I wanted to ask you one more thing. And this is really from both of you, perhaps Funmi first, and then Roderigo. Can you tell us how the two of you have continued to work together? Now? That was he was back in Brazil? Unknown Speaker 31:14 So Rodrigo, do you want to say that? Oh, yeah. So one of the things I brought that roderigo didn't talk about, was that the most profound work that he produced during the time that he was here. So I know that, you know, some women have a high risk for breast cancer, and they have a genetic mutation. But they did not want to have their breasts removed, as the only way to manage their risk. And I had been collecting a really robust database of women who started screening for early detection of their breast cancer, using magnetic resonance imaging. And we had lots of data points. And so you need to really have somebody who was very careful to annotate every single patient, get their genetic testing results, get their MRI results, get their psychosocial results. And we have this huge spreadsheet of data that you could only connect and the only person who could connect it was somebody who knew medical who had medical knowledge, who also had knowledge of genetics, and then who is married to a radiologist. Because Rodrigo is married to a radiologist. So when I give a tough assignment, he could always go home and ask his wife. But we were able to publish this beautiful paper that I think is going to be really transformative for how we do early detection of breast cancer. And it was really a gift to me that he came and committed that year to helping us organize our data. And, and that's really, you know, made that big transition that you can do risk assessment. And then now we need to do population risk assessment for everyone. Because one size doesn't fit all in terms of who gets what. And it's going to trans- transform our field, we're going to be focusing more on prevention and early detection. But I would not have been able to put that data to gather if Rodrigo had not spent the year with me and then being married to a radiologist. You need to thank your wife too Unknown Speaker 33:42 I do this every day otherwise I could not sleep in my bed. No, but but you know, just to add this, this generosity, you gave this, you said this would be my baby, too, during that year, and I had to take care of this baby. And it was really, really important for me to have this challenge in front of me, because using this I had the opportunity to connect with so many other researchers in the University of Chicago and not only inside Univeresity of Chicago, but also outside so we collaborate with Mary-Claire King with in this in this paper to and this manuscript. So we collaborated so many researchers from different fields. And this really opened my mind to new questions for my own research here in Brazil, and and after that, I will also add this is information that I did not mention yet, Funmi came to Brazil, and she spent some time here and I had the opportunity to to introduce her to researchers in the Universidad Federal da Bahia. And that's the place where the Nigerian came to Brazil and they established a really big community here. And where I live now 80% of the population is African descent. And this would have connect all the not all but a big part of the research research from Funmi that she's doing around the world with African American patients. And also to understand how genetics was playing a role here for patients in order to develop breast cancer in Brazil. Then, in collaboration with this, the researchers fromUniversidad Federal da Bahia, we could be able to continue and to aggregate one more piece in this puzzle. So how is breast cancer inherited in the world? And I think that now we have another one, one more piece. And in this really, really complicated, Unknown Speaker 36:14 very, very interesting and very inspiring also, Funmi and Rodrigo, what a great story. So now I would like to move to the lightning round of questions. Short questions, short answers. For the first question, could you share one lesson learned or best practice for developing successful international partnership? For me? Yeah, Unknown Speaker 36:43 yeah, I think it's really, you need to build local capacity, it was not sufficient for Roderigo to have come here, it was very important for me to have gone to Brazil, and to have been able to sit down with a university professors in Bahia. So they, he was training in, in São Paulo, but then got a job in Bahia. And when I went to Bahia, I saw the resources they had him Bahia, they had one of the oldest federal universities, and they had a fantastic population, that could actually be the link between the questions that we were asking in terms of getting to the root of breast cancer, and by integrating that university, and then subsequently, they sent the graduate student to my lab. So now Roderigo, was able to mentor another PhD student, who will now be able to join the laboratory, so Gabby Felix. So now we have now the pedigree of University of Chicago trained, you know, even if it's just in a sandwich, you know, a PhD program. And so that's really one of the lasting legacies that I think international partnerships have to do, yes, they can come to your lab, they can come and be here for two weeks, two years, one year, six months, it doesn't matter. But you have to build that relationship, and then build capacity in their own country, so that when they return to their own country, they can actually be their experience here can be transformative. And that's really what I lessons that I learned. And that's why when we pitch the idea to Mrs. Kiphart to help us set up a Center for Global Health. She always said I want us to focus it on equity, and to build capacity of our partners to do their own work, to do their own research, to make sure that their own country also invest in them. So Roderigo also, I told him that subsequently, we had PhDs, medical oncologists, who then did their PhD, and the Brazilian government thanks them to my lab and paid for them, right Roderigo paid for himself to get trained because he could afford it, right. However, there's so many brilliant scientists who are there in countries where the government is not investing in science and technology, and we have no way to pay for them to come here and be resident here. So that's why I will hope that the Consul General, will go back and talk to the Brazilian government. I want more PhDs as sponsored, and we want them to come and we will train them and they will go back. It's brain circulation. You don't need to be you know, I got stuck here because I'm a brain drain from Africa. But now we're talking about brain circulation that we just need to really circulate the talent and we are in a global scientific community, and we can all work together to solve important problems. So our PhD is from Brazil. Juan de Pablo 40:09 Okay, that's the answer. Rodrigo, in your own view, one lession learned or best practice for developing a successful international partnerships. Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini 40:24 There's not an easy question for this one. I think that it's very important to, to have researchers that are really generous as Funmi was to me, you, it's not for everyone, because they need also to give something to the world that is going to spend some time with them. And, and she, she was open to do that. And I think that not all researchers are ready to do this. And also a very strong commitment from the one that is trying to to establish this relationship. So with like, the students, the PhD students, I think that's a very, very strong commitment needs to be established with your mentor, and you have to see this person, as your mentor. It's not like a two months, six months relationship that you want to establish, you need to see this, this this, this person, as someone who will guide you through your career. And if you have been lucky enough as I had, you will be successful. Juan de Pablo 41:47 Wise words. Very, very good. Thank you very much. So, we have about 15 minutes left or so. So um, we're gonna take a few questions from the, from the audience. And the first one is for Rodrigo, do you see clinical ethics becoming a more popular topic of discussion in Brazil right now? Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini 42:16 Very good question. I think medical ethics and clinical ethics, it's it's it's always something that it's very important in our discussions, but I but what I think from our Brazilian physicians is that we are not trained to use the medical ethics principles in our daily basis clinical practice. And that's why I think that the fellowship that I did with Mark Siegler was really important, because I could use the principles I could understand how to use them, and how to connect them with my reality. During medical, during the medical school, we have a lot of lessons about medical ethics, but they are usually separated with a clinical practice. And this is something that it's not enough, you can't learn medical ethics when you are in your first or second year in your medical school, you have to discuss medical ethics when you are doing your internship or your fellowship. Otherwise, these principles do not make sense. And then when you connect these principles with our clinical practice, everything changes and then we everything started to make sense. And and I think that we do not have a lot of people in Brazil, to really have the knowledge to discuss medical ethics in a really deep. Juan de Pablo 44:00 Very interesting. Funmi, real time as a fellow as you Chico was the starting point of their of your collaborative work with him your other research collaborations. What has been the catalyst for starting the joint research program? Funmi Olopade 44:20 Yeah, so I think that you know that there are so many different collaborations that happened because you were there. And I can tell you, I was not studying breast cancer until I went back to my medical school. And I was really just telling them that I had gone to America, and I was looking at chromosome abnormalities in leukemia with my mentor, Dr. Rowley. But as I as we were mapping disease genes, we map chromosome nine And Mary-Claire, king was mapping chromosome 17. You know, Mary-Claire said, you know, you're a doctor, why don't you go and find families. So we can find this, you know, patients who are high risk for breast and ovarian cancer. So, you know, I went from the lab to then say, Okay, I don't want to compete with Dr. Rowley, let me establish a cancer risk clinic and see if I can get families to come in thinking that I was going to be aligned with what I was doing, which was really mapping melanoma genes. But then as soon as I, as a physician, scientists thought, wow, Mary-Claire King wants to find families. And here I am, if I started this clinic, I can find families. And and then we began collaborations. Then I went back to my alma mater, to tell them that look, even though BRCA one has been published, and everybody's talking about them in, you know, Jews of Eastern European ancestry. Well, the patients I'm seeing in my clinic, they're African, the African Americans, they have extended families. So I went back to Nigeria to give a lecture, and my sister in law who happens to be studying sickle cell disease, and says, oh, why don't you study the genetics in in our own population as well. And so we began collaborations in breast cancer, because I was just giving, you know, a, you know, I went home for Christmas. And then I was telling them about the work I was doing. So this informal relationships, informal collaborations, when you go to meetings, when you, you know, talk to your colleagues, so I've learned that it's nice to be able to connect, and that these connections happen, actually, most of the time, informally. And so I would really hope that, you know, after this pandemic is over, that the university will allow us to travel again. And if we don't travel that we continue to, you know, have informal discussions online, but there's nothing that beats really face to face, you know, you're having a meal, and then you think of an idea, and, and then the collaboration start. So those those have been transformative for me, because, you know, I just was going to a wedding at home, and then I went to Brazil, and then yeah, you know, talking to Paulo Hoff and says, oh, there's this young man, maybe you can take him in your lap, all informer, there was not any scripted meeting. Juan de Pablo 47:37 Very fun answer. And of course, the next question builds on that. So um, this is a question for you Rodrigol. I am a Brazilian medical student, not me. This is a question from the student. I am a Brazilian medical student and highly interested in international research just like you. Do you have any professional academic advice to a student who wants to connect with researchers from other countries? Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini 48:09 Very good question. Yes, I think I have a few advices. First of all, you you need to show in your requests, not only an interest to travel, but spend some times in a foreign country, but also an interest in the topic. It's it's very important for you, you have to to understand with with whom you were trying to connect, you need to know the the research that this person is interested about. You have to know if this research is also interested to you. And only after that, that you really could understand why you are trying to connect with this specific person, you should try to send an email or talk to someone to talk to this person for you. So do not want just to travel and to have international experience. This needs to have a meaning for you for your career. Otherwise, you're going to spend one month and then you will travel back to your country and this relationship will never continue. And once you establish this connection with this mentor with this international professor, you you have to be very open minded. And this is what phumi mentioned. You have to learn medical ethics with Dr. Mark Siegler. Otherwise, it's not going to work for you. And at the beginning, I didn't realize what that means. For me, that meant for me. And but I was open minded. And we had so many opportunities during this year to callab- to do research. And she guided me No, this is not the best way you have to go here, do this and that. And if I was like, no, I think this is the best way to go, I would not have reached any any any place in during this, this this relationship established with Dr. Fumni. So be open minded, connect with someone who has meaning for your career, and surely try to show this researcher, why you are trying to connect. Juan de Pablo 50:58 Thank you, everybody. We're going to conclude soon. Before we do that, I like to give both of you an opportunity to, to give a few parting words of wisdom to our audience, or colleagues or students both in the US and in Brazil. Funmi, you already said loud and clear, send us more PhD students, or people to note, but any final remarks that you would like to make Funmi? Funmi Olopade 51:28 Yeah, I think what's really important lessons that, you know, you're never too old to keep learning. And I've certainly learned a lot from my mentees who push me. And so it's a pull and push. And so this collaborations will succeed when the mentee also comes with the idea of what they want to do, and they push you. And so the more Roderigo pushes me to help him get access to something, the more I'm energized to help him. And that's really what has sustained this collaboration. And I think it's a pull and push and a commitment and and then to be in a university, like the University of Chicago, where people are really collaborative, they're open minded. And it's all about the pursuit of the greater good. And so I've been fortunate to be here and to be able to work with colleagues, who are also open minded and want to push the frontiers of science. Juan de Pablo 52:34 Thank you for me, Rodrigo. Any final words? Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini 52:40 I cannot end this conversation without thanking Funmi. Juan de Pablo 52:50 Thank you, Funmi, very much. Benoni Belli 52:52 Thank you Juan de Pablo 52:52 both for a wonderful discussion, a great conversation. I think that when you've done together is simply extraordinary - an inspiration for all of us. Thank you for Funmi Olopade 53:05 Why are you crying? I can't believe that you want me to cry? Well, Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini 53:20 maybe this is one way to, to show you how Benoni Belli 53:26 grateful I am. And Rodrigo Santa Cruz Guindalini 53:29 everything that that happened really shaped my career. You changed it. And thank you so much. Funmi Olopade 53:40 Thank you, Rodrigo. And I have to thank the Consul General for, you know, allowing us to do this. And and thank Juan for representing the university. We enjoyed the hour. And we hope that we'll have the opportunity to collaborate more with Brazil. Juan de Pablo 54:02 Absolutely. Benoni Belli 54:03 Thank you so much. It was really moving and just a few words. But to let you know that I took note here and the phrase that they took note is more PhD students in UChicago, Brazilian PhD students in UChicago, so that more people could have also this experience that Rodrigo had that was transformative for him. And I'm sure also for for the mentor who is also here, I've showed that it is a two way road. It's not just one, as as Dr. Funmi has stated and highlighted and stressed that the students also have this impact when the students are students were willing to push the mentor to go beyond the boundaries that they know which was the case with Rodrigo so thank you so much for this experience and this moving experience and I hope inspiring experience. For all those who were attending this meeting and and others that will also watch this video after the event. Thank you so much. Juan de Pablo 55:10 Thank you again, everyone.