From Colombia to Houston: How International Experience Shapes Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare (ft Dr. Andrea Ramirez Varela)

- Welcome to Digital Voices.

“We're healthcare and life science leaders”

explore the real work behind transformation. This podcast is about people, leadership, and the conversations that move healthcare forward. Now you're host, Ed Marks. - Welcome to another edition of Digital Voices.

Super excited because my guest is a pretty awesome person I've got to know. Dr. Andorea Ramirez Varella. Andorea welcome to Digital Voices. Hello, Ed.

Thank you so much for inviting me today. Really excited to be here. - And we got to meet up last few months ago. I was gonna say last year, but not quite last year, a few months ago.

And I was just mesmerized by your story,

about your leadership, about your personality, just who you are. And I was like, oh man, I have to have Andrea on the Digital Voices and share a bit about what she's doing to, but as I was what you did a few, physical.

And so thanks for being our guest. But Andrea, as you know, the court question to be asked, they attack podcasts. Is what arms are tell you less? Like what kind of music do you like to listen to?

- Well, it, as you know, I'm Colombian, but I'm also an adoptive Brazilian. So my list of music has lots of Latin flavor. And I listen to music in Spanish, a music in Portuguese, and I live here in Houston now.

So I'm also incorporating some songs in English. My favorite groups are bomba esterio, Adriana Calcanyoto, and tool, and I'm an opera fan. So I do listen to a lot of opera too. - Awesome, I definitely get a look at some of this, is it?

So before we jump, like too far in, are there words that you live by or words that sort of guide you like how you live or operate? - Yeah, so one of my mantras and is the one I use every day is like everything is already resolved.

So sometimes I do not know how things are going to turn out, but I have like a deep trust that in God and the universe that things are going to turn out well. So I repeat that to myself all the time. And also when things don't go well,

I remind myself that rejection is protection and redirection.

“So you have to turn a look for alternatives,”

but you will end up where you have to be. - Yeah, I love that, and you already shared Adriana, a little bit about yourself in terms of being from Colombia, but also adopt is Brazil, and obviously you used to now, tell us all about yourself, like including like where were you born

and just how you made your whole way over to the United States? - Thanks, Ed, yeah, so I'm from Colombia, South America. I was born in Bogota, and I come from a small but loving family. I lived all my life with my mom and my sister. My parents are divorced, and I do have two younger half sisters

on my dad's side, so we're four girls. I'm the oldest, and I love all my sisters very much. In Colombia, as you can imagine, we do love dancing, music, art, Colombia and culture, so I grew up with that. And I finish high school in Cali,

you know, the salsa capital in the world. So we enjoy a lot of music in my family, and I return to medical school at the University of Los Angeles in Bogota. So I really had a wonderful childhood.

My mom didn't encourage us a lot to study and to be excellent, so I guess that reflects on how my child loves to study nowadays. And yeah, I'm a constant learner because of all those experiences. - Yeah, that's that awesome. And so events make you down Tuesday, other data, and it's fine.

- Yeah, so I did medical school in Colombia. I did also my master's in public health.

“Since my, I think it was in the second year of medical school”

that I fell in love with epidemiology. So epidemiology is the study of the distribution of health and disease conditions in the population. So that took me to being a research assistant, very early in my career, and I got involved

in an international network of physical activity at the epidemiologists and colleagues. So that exposed me to international colleagues and after medical school, I did my PhD in epidemiology

in Brazil, so that was my first big move.

I did also live in Canada in Vancouver for my public health internship. And after the pandemic, I got an opportunity to work here in Houston because of one of my biggest mentors and best mentors in life, Bill Cole, sadly passed away two years

ago and he actually helped me get this job. And I'm really excited. I've been here for two years now. - Yeah, no, that's awesome. It's our game here in the United States to have you here.

So how did you decide to become a clinician? So at what age did that, did you have this thought?

- It has been all my life story.

“I don't think I have ever considered a different profession.”

Since I was a little girl, I was always playing

to be the doctor of the dolls, my sister, my mom, all my family. Everyone contributed to my practice, the remet school as well. So I have always loved to help people, but also like, I'm fascinated with the human body.

I think it's a perfect machine. So I'm just fascinated by medicine and how health is so critical for people's lives. So I love medicine. And now that I work as a physician scientist,

I'm like a trailblazer between the clinical world and the science world and advancing research to help people in real life. - Yeah, I love that. I mean, you're at ASL background in your experience.

It's just, I mean, in a coma, but that's a young age. So you also pediatric, right? - So I have a double appointment here at UT with the School of Public Health and the School of Medicine

to the Atrix and I'm not a pediatrician, but all my research portfolio and agenda has involved studies with children. So that population, children and adolescents. I didn't tell you this, but in Brazil,

when I was doing my PhD, I was in Pelotas, which is known for the birth cohort. So it's a very special place in Brazil. Very tiny town, less than 300,000 inhabitants. And they have had 30 years now, birth cohorts,

meaning that they recruit people since when they are born and they follow them over time to understand what makes them sick or healthy. So I had a fortune to study there. And my research agenda includes children and adolescents.

- Wow, yes, it's pretty amazing.

So yeah, let's talk about the pandemic. So I know part of your story, but obviously our audience, post our audience, doesn't, it's so fascinating, so for the pandemic happens, you're in Columbia at the time.

- Yes. - So that's what happens and role it played in Columbia. And you know, through the pandemic is safely as possible.

“- Of course, yeah, well, I remember that very well,”

because I graduated from my PhD in 2019. I moved back to Bogotá. And I started a position as an assistant professor at the University of Los Angeles in the School of Medicine. And the pandemic hit in 2020,

I just started my position there. And I was recruited by the Vice Chancellor of Research at the University to be part of the team that would lead the university's response to the pandemic. And the reason is that Columbia, as many other

lower middle income countries, was falling short on PCR tests and in general, national capacity to deal with the pandemic. So the national government and the national institute of health calls the universities to help out

and to work together in order to make a stronger response. And to really be able to provide PCR testing and care for everyone in Columbia. I'm not sure if you know this, but Columbia was one of the countries

that this best in the pandemic. So in terms of deaths and in terms of people who received access and care if they needed it, in Columbia, everyone that needed a nice CU was able to get it because of how coordinated

we were to treat people. So no one died in their house or just waiting in the emergency room for a nice CU or a ventilator. So we're really proud of that.

So I was fortunate to be part of the response from the University of Los Angeles and the reason is that it is one of the best universities in the country, it's a private university, but also the university has one of the most advanced laboratories

of genomics and molecular biology. So we started our own PCR testing site at the university and I was in charge with a couple of other colleagues to develop the public health response.

In that time, in 2020, we didn't have vaccines and we were just starting the PCR testing. So Columbia went into a strict lockdown. I'm not sure if you remember, but we were one of the countries

that pretty much closed the borders for at least seven months. So we were trying to protect our population and at that moment, everyone was in their house,

but there were essential workers

“because we needed the cities to be able to function, right?”

So that healthcare workers, the transportation workers, the essential workers that's saying groceries and food services, those people were going out in order to keep us alive and fed.

to make sure they had PCR testing to know if they had COVID or not and to get the maxes to healthcare in case they needed it. There was no treatment at that time. So pretty much, if you get COVID

or if you got COVID, you had a good risk of being severely sick or die because there was no treatment or vaccination.

So I started working on that incredible amount of work

but a wonderful team. And we ended up being able to build drive-through walk-through that is very frequent here in the US, but in Columbia, it didn't exist. So we came up with that solution

“and we tested more than a thousand people, essential workers.”

And I remember I created my own call center to do contact tracing, so I was able to train my MPH students in order to be able to call and provide all the recommendations. And we followed those people. It was incredibly fulfilling and wonderful to have that team.

We got a big funding from the Inter-American Bank to run that project because logistically, it was extremely expensive to do that. And we were able to help the country and the city with the public health response

to the pandemic.

So consequently, we got more funding from private companies in Columbia.

So you know, private companies were very concerned because their workers couldn't work. So they invested a lot of money in purchasing vaccines. At that time, we had extract contracts to purchase vaccines or the purchase

through the international agreement. So in Columbia, the people from business

“says that some private companies decided to purchase vaccines”

to vaccinate their workers. So we went into a partnership with them and some of those vaccines were directed to very low-income populations and very vulnerable groups in the southernmost areas in Bogota.

So we ended up putting in place vaccination sites in four localities in Bogota. Our transmission was very high, but because they were so poor and lived so far away from the vaccination sites that we had,

we took the vaccines there and we were able to provide the vaccine to more than 1,000 people in record time. It this was a matter of four months. So it ended up being 2% of the vaccination capacity in the city,

but we were part of the thing really vulnerable groups and a lot of immigrants from Venezuela who didn't have access to healthcare. So the impact was massive. I remember going to those vaccination sites.

I remember an activity with it in Halloween to vaccinate children and their families. So we put a gigantic theater. We were projecting a Halloween movie and we were vaccinating people as they were watching the movie

because we wanted people to get vaccinated. We didn't want anyone to be left behind. So it was incredible. All of this with the team from the university and private companies like Fundación Santo Domingo

who is a massive philanthropic in Colombia and other private companies that were very generous to pay for those vaccines for people.

“So I think this is unprecedented just to see how generous people”

were in Colombia to do this for people without really any specific interests. So I did that that work for 2.5 years. It was 24/7 work during the pandemic. I think I graduated as an epidemiologist.

I did have my own field practice with the pandemic. Yeah, that's amazing. Sorry to make an announcement there. You were honest as one of 25 young researchers in Latin America by 3M just because you helped save a bunch of lives.

Yeah, I'm really proud of that. And it was a major team effort really. It was extremely complex to do all of that. But we were able to do it. So I think that shows the power of collaborating together

for a major purpose, which was helping the health of people and trying to save lives. And we don't know exactly how many of those people would be sick or would have died because of COVID. But that's a beauty of preventive care.

When you save lives, you don't really know what exactly the magnitude because you're preventing awful things to happen to people. And that's why we're here. Yeah.

No, this is amazing. I'm glad people love you

out doing what you do. And speaking of which there are people in your life. We really depend a little bit for that's helped see you as who you could be before you became who you are. You know, someone who really believed in you.

Well, I have had the fortunate to have so many mentors in my life and still I do. That's really grateful for that because so many people

But I have always had someone holding my hand and helping me

“in those moments and really to see my potential.”

So my first mentoring life was my cold breath. I still work with him and is like my father. I really love him very much and I'm grateful for his life. I think he was the one who saw my potential as a researcher as a physician scientist.

He was the one who got me in contact with my other mentor, Pedro from Brazil and that's how I got my scholarship to study my PhD. But during the pandemic, definitely the Vice Chancellor of Research Sylvia Restrapo and Eduardo Verenz and one of my dearest colleagues in the public health area in Bogotá with Jorge Hernandez.

He's it's very important there. He worked with the secretary of health. And obviously my biggest cheerleaders, my sister and my mom. They have always seen what what I can do and they have always been there

to celebrate and to and to just cheer me up.

Well, nowadays I have lots of mentors, really great friends that that also helped me achieve my successes. So yeah, I have been really like I'm really grateful and fortunate to have so many people opening the doors for me.

“That's that's what I think like life shows you people to open doors”

and you just have to be grateful and take advantage of all of these opportunities. Yeah, I love that I agree with you. Yeah, let's talk a little bit back here. In a day, I've to a U.T. like your appointment as a professor.

I mean, what's daily life like what what do you do? Oh, it's B.C. and dynamic. And I have to tell you, my days are very different. Every day is a different story and I love it. So I'm very, I'm a very active person.

So my agent is full and I try to keep it like that

because I just love to be able to do things and to help as much as I can. So I do have three major areas that I work in. It's research teaching and service. So I teach courses here at U.T. in relation to epidemiology. I have very big research agenda about epidemiologic surveillance.

I graduated last week from my advanced field of epidemiology training that I started after the pandemic. So it's called the F.E.T.P program, which is an homologose, a sister program from the EIS officer here at CDC. So it's to be able to handle outbreaks of pandemics and epidemic.

So I'm really proud of that. And I do research in that area. I do research in lifestyle medicine. So I do believe in prevention and healthy lifestyle as a way to prevent chronic illness, which is the leading killer

nowadays. So I do work a lot of that. And in relation to service, I do service in my university. I'm a good university citizen. But I also love to do service in my community.

Unfortunately, this year has been extremely busy. But I do try to be active and I'm part of the Latin American Medical Association of Houston. So I try to stay active and to help as much as possible. And of course, teaching and students are also one of the things

I love the most. Yeah, for those who aren't super familiar with UT Health, what is there one or two attributes about UT Health that the average person may not know about? Yeah, so UT Health, here in Houston,

Health Science Center at Houston. I really love being here, and I consider myself very fortunate because UT has a wonderful mentorship structure for immigrants like I am. I landed in a place that I really didn't know very well.

So the university has a wonderful structure to help you locate yourself and really thrive. So it's a very supportive environment which I'm really grateful for.

“And also, UT is one of the most important public health”

schools in the country and in the world. And my office is right next to the MD Anderson Medical Center, which is one of the largest medical centers in the world. So I find everything I need here, and it's a wonderful place full of resources.

More than I can take with my hand to really thrive and to really make a contribution to health. Yeah, you're right. And I know that I know just how rich Houston is with all of the health care organizations,

the universities, academic medical centers, research, science. And I think someone said, 'cause we are at the same Latino health care leadership conference, that maybe the biggest Latino population in the United States is in the history.

It's true. Yeah. Houston is the most diverse city in the country. And it reflects the trends for the future. So almost 40 or 50% of Latino population

bilingual with Spanish, very diverse city, full of action in relation to medical development, innovation,

So it's a wonderful city to live in.

I really love it. It has an over-the other, so I'm really excited too. Yeah, yeah, great, great art for sure. So the other involvement that you have sort of career wise or service wise is GOPA.

I don't know if GoPay, GoPay is the answer. Tell us a little bit about GoPay. So GoPay is related to my lifestyle medicine and preventive medicine work. So it's a global surveillance system for physical activity.

It's one of my dearest projects because it started with my PhD, so I've been working on it for 10 years. Now I started as a student and now I'm one of the co-chairs. So I'm really excited about that. And we have been able to consolidate and network

of at least 186 countries in the world with more than 300 members. And I love it because I can meet my purpose in life there, which is connecting people and helping people also find their purpose and find what they need

in order to do their work and to really promote healthy lifestyles in other countries. So GoPay is fantastic. And I really love this network because I have found my best friends and like my best co-workers there.

And I still have very strong relationship with them nowadays. So it's fantastic to be able to grow with these people. And as I say to them and to my students, life happens. But you still have, and you see people getting pregnant, having kids, retiring, finishing their first paper,

getting their first grand. And all these things that are part of life,

and it's fantastic, it's amazing.

Yeah, you have a very full life. And a lot of different things that you do is it's pretty cool. So let's talk about leadership. Because you've been so successful as we've been talking about here for the last few minutes.

What do you think are one or two key talents or skills

“that have helped you with success that first can look from?”

Well, I think two major things that have worked for me are persistence. I'm a very persistent individual. So I don't give up easily. I would try and try and try until I find the way.

And also a commitment to continuous learning. I love studying. I always study. I love studying. I'm a nerd.

So I will continue doing that, because I really love to learn and to keep my mind active. And definitely, it's very difficult just to say, I finish my MD and my PhD. And now I'm not going to study anything else in my life.

That's really impossible for what I want to do. So those two are the things that have helped me a lot. In relation to skills to relate with other people, I think being coachable, I listen from my mentors. And I try to see how to improve.

So I try to be flexible in my mind, just to be coachable and to learn and to make adjustments. Because your stubborn and really inflexible is going to be really difficult to adapt. To different environments.

And I have lived in five countries now. And you need to learn to adapt, because the other way is going to be really difficult for you.

“I think that's what has helped me a lot.”

In the last few years, I have started to turn more in-world. So really understand my inner world and how I can improve myself to really, like also, if I am in my best, I can also give the best to everyone else. So I have started to pay a lot of attention to that

and really invest much more on my inner world than understanding and having more balance. Because as you may know, in this type of work that I do,

it's really easy to just never stop working.

And that takes a toll on your mind and your body and your emotions and everything. So have tried to be more balanced and really enjoy more life as well, because you don't marry your papers. - Yeah, that's really, really well.

But yeah, where do you, or maybe you already answered it, but where do you go when you feel like your creativity is trained? Or how do you refresh yourself? And maybe it's partially turning in, where does anything that you could have just make for you?

I can care, tell. - Yeah, I love physical activities. So I take my walks in the nature. I love hiking. And nowadays, I meditate every day.

I pay attention to my sleep. I love reading and studying. So that we charges me from the daily work that I do. So that helps me a lot with my creativity

“and allowing myself to rest, that that also is important.”

- Yeah. - Really easy to bounce up. - Yeah, and you mentioned how you've lived in five different countries.

for other people?

Like how does it help you and would you recommend it for others?

- Yeah, absolutely.

“I think it's essential to learn other cultures”

and to see how people live in other places what are their struggles and how where you can make an impact. And that's why I'm here also because I'm helping to expand the footprint and of UT and everything out here. And I think it's important to be open-minded

in relation to what you do. Definitely helps with your work and how you address different challenges in life. - Yeah, I love that. Andrea, what I have to have you back

'cause there's so much, you're such a interesting person.

'Cause it gives you an important look. But you've also taken these skills and talents that have been teach and you toured such a fact, you know, the world and helping a lot of different people.

It's been fascinating. Everything from talking about some of the Colombian music and the Brazilian opera. Definitely get a listen to some of that today. Later today, I'm super super curious about that.

And then we talked about just your growing up and your role during COVID and the different things that you did and getting, you didn't do it, obviously, for recognition. But you were recognized for the great work

that you did to help your fellow country people and also your summer neighbors. And we talked about just your love for learning and being a scientist and a researcher and then a lot about UT health and the different roles

that you have to go by. And that, that, and it's exciting.

I did look up that website and it was a pretty amazing

all the different things.

“I think one of the common themes through all of this”

is connecting people, finding purpose, living healthy. And then we ended up talking a lot about leadership and you really emphasize the self care and because you need other more. You have to take care of yourself

so you can take care of other people. I was really well put. There was other things to talk about as well, but it just ran out of time. What did I miss or anything you want to double down on

on getting the last words? Well, you explained everything on summer. I said everything very well. I would just say that in my life, like I try to cultivate the motivation

to help others and to really see how I am making a difference is that makes sense in this culture. Nowadays it's really easy to be super selfish and only think about your own success and.

“But I think it's, it's like it's amplified”

when you really think how your work impacts others and how you can put yourself to service in that sense. So I think that would be like how I would close in relation to leadership and how I try to leave my life. Yeah, that's awesome.

Thank you for sharing and being horrible and awesome. With our audience, I think really inspired a lot more people in your global institution. I've been able to thank for being our guests. Thank you Ed.

I had a wonderful time today. Thank you so much. (upbeat music) Thank you for listening to digital voices. We hope today's conversation sparked ideas, reflection,

and connection. Subscribe on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify podcast. So you don't miss an episode.