I’m Chiara, an Infectious Disease specialist from Italy. During my medical studies I was charmed by the challenges and complexities that infectious diseases present every day, which is why I decided to pursue this speciality.
During my residency I trained in an adult hospital, where I could improve my clinical knowledge and gain some experience in clinical research. After these years, I decided to move into the paediatric world, and since November 2023 I have been attending the PhD program on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antimicrobial drugs at children’s hospital of Genova.
When I met David Paterson in Barcelona at the ESCMID global in April 2024, and he proposed that I visit UQCCR to improve my PK/PD skills, I thought it might be the perfect experience at the right time. I can definitely say that it was.
When you move overseas you might be afraid or feel uncomfortable, but when I arrived here, I only found great people. All the research collaborators I met helped me to boost my knowledge.
My goal was to learn as much as I could about population pharmacokinetics, and I feel I have improved my skills during this time. I am only at the beginning of my journey in this field, but now I know that I can collaborate with experienced colleagues who will help me continue to improve.
Indeed, what I found essential at UQCCR was the spirit of sharing every aspect of different research, from the challenges to the achievements of new findings. And whenever you need a suggestion, you get crucial and constructive advice from everyone. The most important thing the I will take home, more than my new insights in PK/PD, will be new networking with amazing, knowledgeable, yet humble people.
Coming to UQCCR was one of the best choices of my medical career, and I would recommend this experience to anyone.
