World Economic Forum Highlights 2 UC Researchers
Francisca Garay seeks to understand the behavior of tiny particles. Diego García-Huidobro aims to reduce childhood obesity and addictions with family-centered interventions. What do they have in common? Both academics were selected to participate in the World Economic Forum’s Young Scientists program, along with the most promising under-40 scientists on the planet.
photo_camera Francisca Garay of Physics and Diego García-Huidobro of Medicine were recognized by the World Economic Forum Young Scientists. Credit: WEF
The 25 members of the Class of 2020 of the World Economic Forum’s Young Scientists Community are all under the age of 40 and hail from 14 countries and have very different backgrounds. They are now joined in a global scientific community created by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum in 2008.
This year two UC researchers were chosen to be among this select group of scientists: Francisca Garay, an academic from the College of Physics, and Diego García-Huidobro, from the College of Medicine.
They will have the opportunity to network with other young scientists, as well as scientific and political leaders and entrepreneurs from around the world. It’s about using their current projects and fields of study to transform themselves into global leaders.
Particle Collider and the Origin of the Universe
“It’s an immense honor to have been chosen. At the same time, it feels like a great responsibility. I hope to be able to make the most of the tools that may be given to me so that I may help the country through science,” says Francisca Garay.
Over the past decade, since her undergraduate studies, Garay has been working on the ATLAS experiment of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest particle accelerator built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland. By making very small particles collide, researchers hope to understand the subatomic world and the laws of nature that govern it.
"I have tried to contribute to various areas of the experiment: hardware, data analysis, software, etc. But my greatest contribution has been in data analysis to understand properties of the Higgs boson [an elementary particle that could explain where mass comes from and that is often called ‘the God particle’]. For instance, what is its mass and is there more than one Higgs boson?” she says.
Currently, the researcher is working with professor Marco Aurelio Díaz, also from the UC Institute of Physics, on the project to build muon detectors that are expected to be installed in ATLAS by 2021. The Federico Santa María and Andrés Bello universities are also taking part in the initiative.
"I also wanted to contribute to another type of experiment, a collider that is linear [the LHC is circular]. This collider is called CLIC [Compact Linear Collider] and is in the construction approval stage. Part of the approval stage requires simulated data analysis to demonstrate the capability of this collider. That is where I am contributing – in conjunction with former UC student Raimundo Hoppe – with an analysis that studies the capacity of this experiment to see an unlikely decline of the Higgs boson,” she says.
Family-Centered Medicine
“This is a great opportunity to train myself. It will be very enriching to have a broader view of the sciences and their impact, and then be able to contribute to the future,” says Dr. Diego García-Huidobro.
A doctor trained at UC and specializing in family medicine, with a PhD from the University of Minnesota in family therapy, Dr. García-Huidobro has worked on numerous investigations focused on evaluating the role of the family in health.
“For me, one of the most important social determinants of a person is their family environment. To prevent or treat health problems, therefore, it’s essential to work with the family," he says.
His lines of research are "very practical" and focused on two issues: childhood obesity, and drugs and alcohol, always with a user-centered community approach. “Interventions are designed in conjunction with people. It’s key to involve the participants in the designs,” he adds.
All this work has earned him accolades, including the Young Investigator Award from the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), in 2015; the Matilda White Railey Award from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH); and Reviewer of the Year from the American Journal of Public Health.
The Challenges
Both academics appreciate the support provided by the University. “UC provides us with lots of information about funding and support for our grant applications,” says Garay.
Likewise, Dr. García-Huidobro adds: “The University has been very important. As doctors, we do not have much training as researchers. In my case, I received a lot of support and flexibility to do my PhD.”
Both also agree that the bar is high – managing the course load, administrative tasks and research is not easy. Achieving a healthy work-life balance is also not easy.
Garay and Dr. García-Huidobro, however, are enthusiastic about continuing down this path. "It’s an opportunity for my research to have a greater impact on public policies, to be able to contribute to these policies with what I do," says Dr. García-Huidobro.
Garay adds: “To generate knowledge, we have to make the average citizen understand the value of science so that they may demand more investment from the authorities. I think that young scientists have to become promoters of science, a role which tends to get relegated to the background and looked down upon within the community."
