"My family taught me that fighting for your rights is fundamental and your voice should never be silenced"
Jerusa Brignardello Guerra
Research Postgraduate, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction and Research Assistant, Department of Surgery and Cancer
Growing up during a dictatorship
I was born in the beautiful city of Valparaíso in Chile. For the first eight years of my childhood, Chile was under a military dictatorship – a time that I remember to be often scary and violent. There are lots of stories about people who disappeared after being detained and tortured by military agents. Many people were killed, and human rights were systematically violated during Pinochet’s dictatorship.
I grew up in an environment where politics was a fundamental part of my life.
Because of this, I grew up in an environment where politics was a fundamental part of my life. My dad was a political activist against Pinochet. My family taught me that fighting for your rights is fundamental and your voice should never be silenced. Every single weekend, we had to read the local independent newspapers to understand the political and economic context of what was happening in Chile.
My parents are extremely avid readers, and we were not the richest family. I was always told, “We are not millionaires, so the only gift that you can get from us is your education."
In my photoshoot, I chose to wear my 'NO' t-shirt which was the slogan for Chilean citizens who wanted an end to dictatorial rule in Chile’s 1988 plebiscite. The rainbow symbolises opposing members coming together and hope for Chile's future. This was a pivotal event for the country.
The road to my PhD
Currently, I am finishing my thesis for my PhD on nutritional metabolomics, which seeks to understand how the diet can influence the metabolism. I do this through analysing different metabolites from biofluids such as serum, urine and faeces. Alongside this, I work as a research assistant for one of my PhD supervisors, Dr Kirill Veselkov on his project 'Hyperfoods', which combines state-of-the-art artificial intelligence with nutrition.
Before starting my PhD, I worked as a clinical trial coordinator in the gastroenterology unit and research assistant at the University of Chile's Institute of Nutrition and Technology of Food. I also lectured in nutritional assessment and nutritional biochemistry at the University of Desarrollo. And later, I worked as a nutrition consultant for the World Food Programme with the United Nations in the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean in Panama.
When I decided I wanted to pursue a PhD, I considered many universities in the Netherlands and the UK, but it was Imperial that strongly appealed to me. I wanted to come to Imperial because it’s renowned for its metabolomics research. After applying, I secured a scholarship from the Chilean government which I will always be grateful for. They’ve been very supportive, particularly when I had my daughter and was unwell.
I am grateful for each day of my life because our existence is fragile and unpredictable
In 2019, two months after returning from my maternity leave, I was preparing for clinical trials for my PhD when I suddenly had paralysing chest pain during the night. I was hospitalised, and after many examinations, I received a diagnosis of acute myocarditis. After months of being unwell, I underwent an emergency open-heart surgery to remove a tumour in my left atrium. The surgery was successful, but my recovery was slow and emotionally challenging, particularly as my daughter was very young and the only family I have here is my husband. However, we are blessed to have good friends that supported us.
After almost three years, I can now proudly show my beautiful mid-sternotomy scar in the middle of my chest. I have returned to finalise my PhD with my new supervisors, who have been very supportive despite unexpected circumstances. I am grateful for each day of my life because our existence is fragile and unpredictable.
Clichés and stereotypes
There are a lot of stereotypes related to Latino or Chilean culture. Most of them are clichés that do not necessarily represent our entire identities. There are some TV shows where Latinos or South Americans are mocked and stereotyped. The characters show grotesque representations of motherhood and family identities. That is not the reality of our culture.
When Latina women meet each other outside of Latin America, we have an immediate comradeship. Latina women are often oversimplified in the public eye, when actually Latin America encompasses many different countries, cultures, languages, sexualities, religions, music, and food. We may have similar values, but we are not the same
Jerusa on holiday at Horcón beach in Valparaíso
Jerusa on holiday at Horcón beach in Valparaíso
Jerusa spending time with her Grandpa
Jerusa spending time with her Grandpa
Dancing the Charleston in her reception years
Dancing the Charleston in her reception years
Jerusa sporting a cast with her big brother
Jerusa sporting a cast with her big brother
Jerusa channeling her inner Mary Poppins as a child
Jerusa channeling her inner Mary Poppins as a child
Proud to be Chilean
When you are Chilean, you feel proud because you come from a country that has overcome a lot of difficulties. We are extremely resilient. We have many natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanoes, so we are used to rebuilding everything. Bad things happen often, but we learn to carry on.
There is so much about Chile that people are not aware of. Chile is a really wealthy country in terms of literature – we have incredible writers such as Nicanor Parra, Roberto Bolaños and Pablo de Rokha. We have wonderful celebrations, such as for 18 de September, where the country stops for a week to mark the first meeting that started the process of independence from Spain. Everyone gets together to eat traditional Chilean food like empanadas and asados and drink terremotos, piscolas or an awesome Chilean wine.
I listen to music from every part of the world, but I need to listen to music that is from Latin America or from Chile regularly. Whilst I’m Chilean, I’m also very proud to have indigenous roots as do most people in Latin America. I am constantly trying to show my daughter diverse Latino and Chilean music from musicians such as 31 minutos, Los Jaivas and Claudio Arrau.
I am raising a strong, resilient, independent woman who is aware of her Chilean heritage
My next challenge is immersing her in Latin American literature. I look forward to the day she learns to read, and then I will introduce her to my childhood favourite Chilean authors like Gabriela Mistral (the first Latin American Literature Nobel laureate), Marcela Paz and Francisco Coloane. When I was a little girl, my mother took me to the library regularly and I do the same with my daughter even though she does not yet read.
Food, in particular, is very important to me. Most of the time during the week we cook Chilean food. In my culture, food is a way to show love and appreciation for someone and we socialise around food. I introduced my daughter to cooking at the age of one. Since then, we have always cooked together.
I speak Latin American Spanish with my daughter, as well as English and Dutch as my husband is from the Netherlands. We celebrate Chilean, Dutch and some British festivities, where our daughter learns from the different cultures that surround her. Considering my identity and life experiences, I am raising a strong, resilient, independent woman who is aware of her Chilean heritage.
This interview was edited by Nikita Rathod, and photographed by Jason Alden. The video interview was filmed and edited by Tom Walker and Martin Sayers.