Science for the benefit of Puerto Ricans and their beloved homeland is the motto embraced by neurobiologist and scientist Mónica Feliú.
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Her passion for scientific research is parallel to the love and pride she professes for Puerto Rico. Twenty years ago, the neurobiologist left the island to begin a career in the field of research, science and neurobiology that has strengthened the ties she has with her country and the commitment she feels to be useful to society, and to bring about changes that result in the well-being and improve the quality of life of Puerto Ricans.
A member of the Puerto Rican diaspora, Feliú has never been an observer and will not be one either, because all her actions are aimed at focusing and teaching that science is done in community. For the science communicator that community, although she lives in California, is one that feels, suffers and feels the same as she does: the Puerto Ricans.
Feliú is a native of Vega Alta. There she grew up surrounded by nature and animals that awakened her interest in biology. She studied her bachelor’s degree in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico in Bayamón, then was accepted at MIT (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in Boston where she did three years of research and went on to complete her doctorate in Neurobiology at Harvard University.
She is currently the director of Public Participation in Science at Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR), a global non-profit community with more than 17,000 scientists, students, educators and allies that generate social impact in Puerto Rico. It also leads projects such as “Aquí nos cuidamos” (Here we take care of ourselves) and the Community Science Laboratory (CienciaCoLab). She is the producer and co-host of the only science segment on AM radio in Puerto Rico, “Jueves de ciencia boricua” (Puerto Rican Science Thursdays), on Radio Isla. She has also combined her expertise to develop in the field of science communication and in recent years has led the production of short films such as “Background to Breakthrough”, a collection that highlights scientists from marginalized communities and how their perspectives and experiences have inspired their ideas and innovations.
This year, 2024, has been relevant for Feliú as she has been able to produce and present her documentary “Coming Home”, a short film that shows how her roots in a rural working class community in Vega Alta inspired her curiosity and love for science. The documentary premiered in May.
“I grew up in bushes on a farm, next to cows, roosters, ducks, dogs, parakeets. That was my infancy, my childhood and the beginning of all the things I can do today from the field of a scientific community. I was always very curious about the living world. For biology. My particular interest in the brain starts around the age of 11. When my dad was diagnosed with severe depression. At that age, I don’t quite understand what’s going on. But I know that what was going on had to do with his brain. And that’s when my interest in understanding the brain in particular began,” she says of her determination to study neurobiology, which is the specialty that studies the nervous system and the biology of the brain and how it relates to the way people behave.
“The law of love and the law of sacrifice do not admit separation. I have never been absent and I have never felt absent ”
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine of the United States and as recently as October of this year she was elected as a member of the California Academy of Sciences, in recognition of her contributions to research, education and science communication.
The neurobiologist uses science communication as a tool to create a social impact in communities and thus promote science to be inclusive and seen in everyday life. This philosophy is conveyed in her documentary “Coming Home”, a project that has received multiple awards in the film industry.
“In CienciaPR we essentially take advantage of the knowledge and commitment of the entire community of scientists, students and people to put science at the service of the country. In particular, I direct all the programs that have to do with communication, with being the public link of science, with bringing science closer to the people, to everyday life. The pillar of all the work I do is to seek, not only to bring science closer to the people, but to connect them with the culture, the realities in the context of Puerto Rico. That people can take ownership of science, even if they say, ‘I’m not interested in science, that they see that science is part of their lives, that science can serve them in many ways. Knowing that science is part of what we do, that old people and children can share in picking pigeon peas in home gardens, that’s science,” she explains from the studio where the photos for Magacín’s Woman of the Year 2024 project were taken.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led efforts to work directly with community leaders and support local communities in the face of equity and justice issues that were also experienced in the midst of the global health crisis.
“In my career I have always been very explicit that my life mission is to put science at the service of Puerto Rico. Most of my work has been in Spanish, most of it has been focused on Puerto Rico, and if I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me why Puerto Rico, who cares about Puerto Rico, I would have many dollars. That questioning has been constant for me, and one thing that makes me very proud is that I have persisted for almost 20 years in focusing my communication work in Puerto Rico. That today the recognitions, the appointments to bodies, associations, prestigious societies, recognitions that come from the scientific community, awards that I have earned, each and every one of them are for the work I have done in Puerto Rico, for me it is to fulfill my beloved country,” she points out with a big smile of satisfaction.
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This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.
