After a few months of having accepted a scholarship to study medicine in Cuba, Dr. Claudia Pascual Morales knew that she had made the best decision of her life. She was learning not only medicine, but also humanity and solidarity.
Dr. Pascual obtained her medical degree in 2007 at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana. After returning to her country of origin, Peru, she studied pediatrics and pediatric oncology at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, training at the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases, a national reference center in cancer care.
In 2015, Dr. Pascual joined the Guillermo Almenara Hospital in Lima, where she successfully led the implementation of the Multicentric Project EVAT (Early Warning Assessment Scale). This project incorporated a clinical evaluation scale into the daily nursing care of children and adolescents hospitalized with cancer. EVAT implementation led to faster identification of possible signs of clinical deterioration and communication with the multidisciplinary critical-care team. The results included timelier medical intervention and reduced patient morbidity and mortality.
She also served as coordinator of the Retinoblastoma Committee of the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) in Peru and as a member of the Education, Health Services, and Infections Committees, supporting the fulfillment of activities and projects of each committee.
Dr. Pascual currently works as a national consultant for the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer at the Pan American Health Organization in Peru, which is the focal country in the region. In that role, she coordinates the development and implementation of strategies to improve survival rates for children and adolescents with cancer. Her areas of interest are pediatric public health and retinoblastoma.
“I applied to the Master of Science in Global Child Health program seeking to gain the knowledge and tools I need to develop better health interventions aimed at reducing the mortality rate from childhood cancer in my country and around the world,” she says. “I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with St. Jude as I share the hospital's mission to save lives for all children and adolescents with cancer everywhere. I am sure that working together we will achieve that goal.”
Hometown: Lima, Peru
Education
MSc: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru (2015)
Medical degree: Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina, La Habana, Cuba (2007)