The above painting by Paul Gauguin hanging in the Museum of Fine Art in Boston poses three questions: D’oit venons nous? Que sommes-nous? Ou allons-nous? As I peer at a print of this painting on the wall of my office, I ponder these questions in the context of my life.

Where do I come from?

  I was born in Europe and taken at a very young age to a tiny village in Chaco, a province in the north of Argentina. Growing up in this subtropical province I hungered for more education than I was receiving. The only school in my village had four grades taught by two unenthusiastic teachers. As a young child, I vividly remember crying to my parents that I wanted, and needed, to learn more. Three months before the end of fourth grade my tearful pleas were answered. My parents arranged for me to board with a family in a nearby small town so that I could attend a better school for the remainder of my primary school years. However, once I was ready to enter high school, I was once more faced with what was for me an agony, the prospect of not being able to continue my education. It took two years, but I was once again given the opportunity to pack my bags and live away from my family so that I could pursue my educational dreams. During these difficult times, I never stopped aiming high. Eventually, I graduated from one of the best and toughest colleges in Buenos Aires and from there went on to pursue graduate work at Cambridge University in England. From Cambridge, I went to Princeton University as a Post-doctoral fellow. I advanced in the academic world and became one of a small select group of tenured female professors at the The University of Chicago.

Who am I?

  I am a passionate individual with strong principles and commitments. I am driven by a desire to find answers to questions. My heroes are scientists from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century; individuals who dedicated their lives to science and whose discoveries and hard work paved the road for those of us who follow in their footsteps. Fueled both by innate curiosity and a strong desire to serve humankind I, for one, have also chosen to devote my life to scientific research because it is what gives me the most joy and satisfaction out of life.

Where am I going?

  My graduate and postdoctoral training were in Physical Biochemistry and when I took my first faculty position at the State University of New York at Buffalo it was to study myosin – a muscle protein. However, when my older sister was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a central nervous system neurological disorder that cripples one in every 100,000 young adults, I became resolved to learn more about this relentless condition. It was at this turning point that my life took on new direction and determination. I decided to devote all my efforts toward understanding the etiology and pathogenesis of MS. It was this decision, and a lot of intense preparation and retraining, that brought me to the University of Chicago to begin a new career in cell biology and neuroscience. I feel a strong commitment to my sister who passed away, to my niece who also has MS and struggles on a daily basis simply to live, and finally to other talented individuals, such as the late cellist Jacqueline DuPre, whose lives and accomplishments were cut short because of MS. I am going to find the primary cause of MS. This will set the stage for designing relevant disease-based experimental models and will open the door to searching for cures.