Dagmar García-Rivera is a pharmacist and the Vice Director of Research and Development at the Finlay Vaccine Institute in Havana, Cuba. Being from a family of university professors, it was not difficult for her to choose a career focusing on research: “I [grew up] in a house where we heard … about knowledge, university studies, doctoral degrees … I [understood] since I was very young that I [needed] to study [to do] something important”, she says. Her role models, her father and a school chemistry teacher, influenced her to become a researcher, as she states: “This professor was very important to despertar [spark] the interest for science … my father [and others] … allowed me to see [that] with the Pharmacy career I could find the relation that I wanted between chemistry and [biology]”. She graduated from Pharmacy in 1998 at the Universidad Central de las Villas, in Villa Clara, one of the biggest universities in Cuba, founded in 1952. Soon after, she started her career as a young professor at the same university, which she recalls as a great responsibility at the time: “This was very important because when you have the responsibility of teaching students you need [to have good] background and preparation.” García-Rivera taught immunology and pharmacology at the Universidad Central de las Villas for 5 years. “When I studied immunology, I discovered that this is the [field] that I wanted to dedicate my life [to].” Later, due to family reasons, García-Rivera moved to Havana and in 2003 she started her PhD focusing on the immunomodulatory effect of natural products. Two years after successfully defending her doctoral thesis, she joined the research group led by Professor Vicente Vérez-Bencomo in 2008. “The day I had the first conversation with Dr. Vicente about vaccines, I [fell] in love with the idea to do, with my immunological knowledge, something important for [people’s health]. Now, I have been involved in important vaccine projects [for] the last 15 years, leading the preclinical and clinical evaluation of these vaccines”, she recalls. The Finlay Vaccine Institute and The Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) are the main institutes responsible for vaccine production in the Cuban national program, supported by the Ministry of Health. “We focus on the most important vaccine projects. Our Institution, Finlay Vaccine Institute, produces more than 80% of vaccines used in our National Immunisation Program. We have a huge responsibility with the national immunisation program in Cuba, and we [also]export vaccines to other countries” she further explains. García-Rivera’s experience with vaccine research was especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was part of the team responsible for producing one of two COVID-19 vaccines that would serve the Cuban population and be exported to other countries. This was a very challenging project due to the time-sensitive need for a vaccine: “We received the call of our president for developing our own vaccine … We designed one of the most innovative COVID-19 [vaccines]. SOBERANA® 02 is the unique conjugate vaccine developed for fighting SARS-Cov-2, [it] is [based] on the RBD conjugate to tetanus toxoid, combining a very relevant humoral and cellular immune response, especially for children.” The combination of innovation, agility and commitment was the recipe for success: “When the pandemic [started] … for the first time we received the responsibility to produce a vaccine as fast as possible … we worked very hard, we sacrificed our families, our life, our priorities during 2020, 2021 and 2022, [and we] fully dedicated to the development of SOBERANA vaccine.” The result of the SOBERANA vaccine is one of the moments García-Rivera is most proud of in her career: “When we succeeded, when [we] found our vaccine worked, when we vaccinated more than 1.8 million of Cuban children with the vaccine we [produced], it was amazing. For me [this] is the most important thing I [have done] in my life. Nothing is compared with the sensation of … [millions] of children [receiving] a vaccine that we develop with [our] dedication, [our] sacrifice and [our] esfuerzo [effort]. I don’t think I will have another moment so relevant to compare with this.” Her success is also due to the combination of great teamwork and support from the government: “All the time I feel that I cannot speak [for myself] because we are a team, it is impossible to think this is the result of one person. We are a team, a very important team … with the alliance with the Ministry of Health …” Perhaps a unique consequence of the aligned mission of the research institutes and the minister of health, Dr García-Rivera’s experience as a woman in research reflects this perfect alliance, allowing for women to establish themselves in academia without having to choose between career or family: “In Cuba more than 60% of [researchers] are women. I don’t have to privarme [deprive myself] from any personal plan [due to] my career” she explains. However, there are some challenges that Cuban researchers face when it comes to publishing their studies. García-Rivera highlights: “Sometimes, the main barrier we have suffered is for publication. In November 2021, when we vaccinated 1.8 million children in Cuba with SOBERANA vaccine, it was the major mass immunisation in children with a COVID-19 vaccine … we sent to an important journal a letter [communicating this] and it was rejected less than 24 h later.” Unfortunately, there is still some discrimination related to the country people are from despite the quality of the research that is performed: “If I have [felt] some discrimination … in science it is related [to publishing] the Cuban science in [some] important journals in the world.” Despite these challenges, they could still publish their results in relevant journals that accepted their authorship without discrimination. Dr. García-Rivera’s journey is defined by a strong sense of ethics and a commitment to instilling in the next generation the importance of their work in public health and for the overall population: “My generation … also has the responsibility to prepare the next generation of Cuban scientists and also, [to] be able to create capacities for responding to a new potential pandemic. We are working on it.” She also has important advice for those who wish to follow her career path: “As a [scientist] and woman I have [felt] that it is possible to combine the scientific career with a full personal life … I have been able to study, go abroad, finish my PhD … and have been able to have a family, my house. I feel [accomplished] as a person. When my children [were] vaccinated I [was] proud.” she recalls. The impact on people’s lives is what drives her to be a strong researcher, as she feels a deep sense of pride knowing that her work translates into tangible benefits for the community. “As a Latin American researcher and also as a Cuban researcher is the [commitment] that we have with our science in the function of the public health. Our mottos, the most important feeling is the things we do will have an impact in the public health of our people” she concludes
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