Time to reconnect with the world – Our students cope with COVID-19

Among our current students are the shining stars of tomorrow’s global research scene. Disrupted by the insidious pandemic, their training period was transformed. How did the pandemic change their research project and their learning, and in doing so, how did it reveal their character? Four young next-generation researchers tell their COVID-19 stories.

Deborah Villafranca-Baughman is a born optimist. With a smile, she seems able to chase away the clouds of the pandemic, no matter how big they are. A doctoral student in Adriana Di Polo’s (Neuroscience research theme) laboratory, this young researcher from Barcelona, Spain, has been working at the CHUM Research Centre since 2016.

For her, the pandemic revealed, and even exacerbated, social inequalities. “When activities at the Centre were put on hold, I took advantage of the time to volunteer at a CHLSD, working with seniors. I noticed a wonderful sense of solidarity among the volunteers and I found it gratifying to see the hope in the eyes of the lonely people that we were taking care of,” she said.

Living far from her family and not being able to be with them physically to support them during times of bereavement or illness was sometimes difficult, but she used time as a remedy for weariness. Time to find herself, to read what is being done in her area of expertise and to live in the moment.

Time to reconnect with people, too. “Every noon, I connected online with my family for an hour of ‘Gym-finement’. Being dynamic in my personal and professional routines also helped stimulate my mind to be more effective in my work, to discover what I want and to set goals accordingly.”

Once the Research Centre reopened, she was able to get back to the laboratory and immerse herself once again in an area of research that fascinates her. Since then, her mantra has been: take nothing for granted.

The future holds many possibilities for Villafranca-Baughman—going as far as she can with her neuroscience research, having her own laboratory or business, continuing her humanitarian activities. “Opportunities will arise, but you just have to be there when life gives them to you.”