Alexandre Fligelman Kanas

Alexandre Fligelman Kanas is a student at the 3rd year of the USP Medical School (FMUSP). He attended high school at “Colégio Bandeirantes”, where he had his first opportunity of contact with laboratories, thus awakening his interest in scientific research. As soon as he was admitted to FMUSP, at the age of 17, he promptly sought to interact with the research field, and was approved in the first position in a contest that awarded him a one month laboratory scholarship at the renowned Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, Israel (International Summer Science Institute), where he worked side-by-side with great scientists, and was close to young people from all over the world with similar scientific interests. Furthermore, at the end of this period, he presented to the other Institute’s students and professors the outcome of his research (“T-cell tolerance as a function of tumor progression”) and published such work in a magazine of the Institute. Still, in the first semester of the University, he started a Project of Scientific Initiation in the Neuroimage area where he resorts to Nuclear Medicine’s methods to evaluate morphologic and functional changes in the Alzheimer Disease. In addition, he also worked in a research project in the Cardiac Pathologic Anatomy area at InCor (“Heart Institute”). Since 2006, he is a member of “Mensa Brasil”, the Brazilian branch of “Mensa International” association, an international society of high IQ whose one of the purposes is to encourage research for the benefit of Humanity and this purpose fits straight into Alexandre’s future life project. Further, he is a member of the Rugby team of his University’s Athletic Department and he was also in the Judo’s team at the same Institution. He also attended dozens of extra-curricular courses and congresses related to the medical area. He always sought to have an active participation in the academic scenario of his University, where he was director of the Scientific Department in 2009, being in charge of organizing several courses among the most distinct Medicine areas throughout the year. In 2010, still at the Scientific Department, he was Coordinator of Extension, being responsible for enrolling and validating the activity of all the Leagues of the University. He was affiliated with the Leagues of Fighting against Syphilis and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Diseases of Thyroid; of Sleeping Diseases; of Clinical Anatomy; and of Plastic Surgery, being director of the first two ones. He was further involved in the organization of the Medical University Congress (COMU) in 2009 and 2010; and was member of the Scientific Commission of the Medical Education Congress of São Paulo in 2010. He has also participated in cultural activities at the University, and a proud member of the “Show Medicina” Cultural Association. Moreover, he participates and is volunteer at the Youths’ Department of Congregação Israelita Paulista (CIP) for more than 6 years, and exercised the following roles: coaching partner to 13 to 15 youths, leader for the Community Services at the Children’s Home, coordinator for Warm Clothing Campaigns, coordinator for recreational activities to CIP’s Elderly Group, responsible for training youths for future leadership roles and, since 2006, in charge of organizing, divulging and producing all CIP’s philanthropic events. Alexandre is really looking forward to participating in this interchange program with the internationally recognized Harvard’s School of Public Health, from where he is sure to bring cutting edge research knowledge, which he intends to replicate upon his return to Brazil, and share the most of it with his colleagues and professors. In addition, besides working in an area so important nowadays as the Cardiopulmonary effects of the pollution, under the supervision of Professor John Godleski, the chance of being at one of the central points of worldwide interchange flow will bring not only this priceless knowledge but also the chance of knowing, as he did at Weizmann Institute, high level researchers as well as young people with huge interest in science, being probably the future researchers of the state of the art labs all over the world, which can contribute in the future to internationally multicenter research.