SCIENCE WITH SIDE EFFECTS
SCIENCE WITH SIDE EFFECTS Stella Hartinger-Peña’s work addresses pneumonia, diarrhoea and malnutrition in the Andes mountains of Peru. Her work has won her this year’s R. Geigy Award – CHF 20,000 courtesy of the R. Geigy Foundation.
P
eru native Stella Hartinger-Peña has wanted to be a biologist for as long as she can remember. She has never once regretted her choice: neither in the lecture halls of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) in Lima, where she discovered the mysteries of genetics, nor during her time in the Amazon region, which opened her eyes to ecological interrelations. After finishing her master’s degree in environmental science, she packed her bags and travelled across Peru, researching the impact of the country’s many mines on the health of nearby populations. The Andes region, so rich in silver, copper, and lead, had long been on the radar of international mining companies – with sometimes devastating effects on the health of the workers and people living there. Many rivers in the area are contaminated with lead; children and adults alike suffer from lead poisoning. “The fact that the government was aware of the situation but didn’t take any action, shocked me”, says Stella Hartinger-Peña. She was able to channel her anger into clear goals: using her background as a scientist to improve people’s health and provide consulting to companies on health issues.
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