Nov 08, 2017 at 04:59 pm

About me

Update posted by Alejandro Speck Planche

I would like to share with you a little bit of my story:

I obtained my Degree in Chemistry in 2005, at the University of Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. During five years, I studied this wonderful career with the aim of making a difference. However, unlike USA or European Union countries, and due to economic problems, the Cuban government does not provide funding to undertake high-level degrees such as masters and doctorates. This, together with the hidden racism (which I suffered during a part of my university career) made me explore the option of abandoning my country to pursue a scientific career to help people and have a better life. Thus, in 2009, I decided to travel to Spain in order to obtain my PhD. in Chemistry or related science.

I also realized that even in the 21st century and with the great development achieved by capitalist countries in the European Union, there were (and still there are) strong tendencies to xenophobia and racism in the society. Check the following links, and you will be able to see the cruel reality:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/oct/19/oxford-accused-of-social-apartheid-as-colleges-admit-no-black-students

http://news.sky.com/story/new-data-reveals-social-apartheid-at-oxford-and-cambridge-universities-11089050

I learned that as a Latin American (Cuban) black person I would have to be two or three times better than any European Union citizen to be noticed in its professional career.

The period 2010-2015 was crucial for me. It was not an easy path but I obtained a Master Degree in Science and Technology of Colloids and Interfaces (University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 2015) and a PhD Degree in Chemistry (University of Porto, Portugal). During this time, I published 54 scientific articles in different international journals (in more than 70% I was the principal author).

I thought that with my CV (which was above the standards even for USA and European Union countries) everything would be easier, and I would be able to get a scientific position. I was wrong! And I learned two important things. First, obtaining a scientific position is not related to how good your CV is.

Second, the European Union countries have achieved such an economic and social development that for many people, despite the prevalence of certain groups of dangerous diseases such as cancer, science is just a job. Therefore, with this way of thinking, many scientists are devoted to similar things, applying similar methodologies and approaches. Genuinely new ideas are not encouraged, and in the scientific groups, the ego and the ambition to achieve things for the benefit of a few individuals prevail over the passion of making a difference. That contradicts the sacred purpose of science: to help people and make the world a better place to live.

During my 9 years of scientific career, I have always been focused on creating publishing interesting and innovative ideas. But for many scientists, logic is the sole way of thinking and getting results, while the creative way of generating ideas is a heresy. For this reason, I was (and still I am) heavily criticized for looking for different approaches instead of applying the conventional ones. And of course, all this has negative repercussions even at the highest levels of professionalism. For example in my area of research (drug discovery), and due to the ideas commented above, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies has decided to stop many important preclinical and clinical studies focused on treating different diseases (https://european-biotechnology.com/up-to-date/latest-news/news/gsk-cancels-30-preclinical-and-clinical-programmes.html). What causes this failure? It’s the use and abuse of conventional ideas.

Being tired of all this misuse of science, and by using powerful alternative technologies, I have decided to take a step forward and make a real difference, a real positive impact in the lives of those millions of people suffering from cancer. I cannot wait any longer for the scientific community to wake up and do something about it (to be ready for new approaches) while people suffer and die. So, I hope we can make a difference together, bringing to light alternative technologies to cure cancer, and hopefully, we will be able to save lives.
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