Cristina Weber is 27 years old and was born in Colonia Aurora, a rural area of Misiones, Argentina, where her family survived by harvesting tobacco.
She was the sixth of eight siblings, walked kilometers to school, and her father—who never learned to read or write—wanted to pull her out of high school so she could work on the plantation. “The bathroom was outside and we had no shower. We bathed with a bucket, and to wash our hair we used lard because there was no money to buy shampoo. Since my older sisters had to work, I was responsible for taking care of my young nephews and nieces”
A scholarship from the Asociación Civil Conciencia opened the door to the National University of Misiones, where she studied Biochemistry and graduated with the highest GPA in her class.
Then came the Balseiro Institute in Bariloche, her first plane trip, and in 2024 a Conicet doctoral scholarship with one of the highest scores in Mendoza.
Today she spends eight hours a day in front of the microscope at the Institute of Histology and Embryology of Mendoza, searching for biomarkers that can detect Parkinson’s before the first symptom appears.
“I dreamed of giving my family a better life”, Cristina said. She is achieving it and, in the process, may change the lives of thousands of patients.