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Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chávez never thought he would be a scientist or a mathematician, however today he not only provides crucial information on infectious diseases but he also has inspired and encouraged hundreds of Hispanic students. Cielo y Tierra spoke with him at the annual SACNAS conference.

Erika Montero: Could you please give me your name and some information about what you do and your science field.

Carlos Castillo-Chávez: My name is Carlos Castillo-Chávez and I work at Arizona State University. My field of expertise is the application of mathematics in biology, specifically as it pertains to ecology and the study of infectious diseases.

Erika Montero: Now, let’s talk a little about you. In your own words, why is what you do important?

Carlos Castillo-Chávez: Generally speaking much of what’s researched in this country depends on what researchers think is important. For example, before women were involved in science most research on cancer concentrated on colon or prostate cancer, but not much research was done on breast cancer. Due to the increase of female scientists research on breast cancer became more important. Any one of these problems is just as complex, interesting and challenging as the other, but exactly what one chooses to study or not to study is important. So in my case, I have always been interested in studying infectious diseases that affect poor communities as is the case of tuberculosis. I work on tuberculosis and HIV or AIDS. I also work on those diseases that affect populations in countries with tropical weather. Like dengue which affects many regions in Mexico. I am interested in studying these diseases because they affect communities I know.

Erika Montero: Now talking about your scientific field of expertise, was there a moment or a particular thing that inspired you to pursue this specific field?

Carlos Castillo-Chávez: It’s a complex question, because I was interested in everything. I studied dramatic arts, literature and then I just seem to always have an aptitude for math. Someone convinced me to become a mathematician. They offered what was called “pure mathematics” which refers to the study of mathematics by themselves. As the social problems in the country, such as immigration and disease increased so did my interest in social issues. So I received my doctorates degree in pure mathematics and then went to the biology department for three years in a post-doctoral position. Since then I have worked more in understanding the relationship that exists between the social structure of a community, which varies from community to community, and the transmission of diseases and increase in addictions. At the same time we use mathematics to understand or increase our understanding of these systems in order to suggest ways to reduce these problems.

Erika Montero: Was there a particular moment or an event that made you change, that is, made you transfer?

Carlos Castillo-Chávez: Yes, there was a fundamental event. Obviously, I was always interested in social problems, but in 1987 I became involved in the study of HIV and AIDS. I became involved when they were giving out the descriptions of the groups at risk of AIDS such as, if you are a homosexual you are at risk, if you are this or that you are at risk. What surprised me the most was a particular category stating that if you were from Haiti you were at risk of AIDS. I wondered how they could draw this conclusion based on such little information and declare such an immense group of people as a being at risk. I thought these types of generalizations were not scientific, and in certain way, were promoting an agenda to assign blame for the transmission of AIDS. That’s when I decided to become involved, to try to understand what was the impact of these arbitrary classifications on the problems related to this disease. That’s why I became involved.

Erika Montero: Now a days young people have so much information available to them, there’s just so much information available, from all this information how do you conclude what is true?

Carlos Castillo-Chávez: Nothing is easy. What we need to understand is that if you have a particular interest you have to develop the discipline and deep interest in the subject, and then look for several reliable sources of information, from renowned sources such as the National Institutes of Health or the Centers for Disease Control. Slowly you begin to find out who is doing important research on certain issues. However, the Web offers a very wide and important source of information that was not available previously. Before all the knowledge we acquired depended on our level of access to good libraries. Visiting a library is still very important, it’s fundamental and much of the information from libraries is now available on the Web. The Web has provided increased access to information for those who do not have access to good libraries, for people who live in rural communities or far away from big cities or for those in poor countries. They can have access to the best information available worldwide, which wasn’t possible before.

Erika Montero: How has your work as a scientist affect your everyday decision making process?

Carlos Castillo-Chávez: The impact of research is group impact. Most of the work I’ve done is related to HIV and the research is read throughout the world. Aside from that, the most impact I think I’ve had has been in mentoring young people, mainly those of Hispanic descent. To promote education, we have formed an institute that provides opportunities for college students, Hispanic and African American, so they can work in their field of interest. Through this program we’ve been able to retain their interest in mathematics. Many of them have gone on to finish their doctorate’s degree and others are in graduate school. We recently tried to do the same at the high school level where some of the students are being introduced to the use of mathematics in science applications.

Erika Montero: What would you tell young Hispanics to encourage them to consider science as a career option?

Carlos Castillo-Chávez: One of the main problems that we frequently have, is that our elementary schools are not the best, that our middle schools many times are not the best, sometimes there are not enough teachers, sometimes the classes are too large, sometimes we have problems at home, sometimes things don’t work out for us, sometimes our parents lose their jobs, sometimes there’s too much tension. But, no matter how, “quote un quote”, behind a student is, a young individual can at any moment decide “from this point on I will learn this”, and can do so even without having the necessary preparation. Many of the students I’ve worked with have come to me with a weak background and have later received their doctoral degrees from some of the most renowned universities in the world. Regardless of when they begin, when they have the opportunity or possibility, these students can reach as high as any other student that was provided all these benefits since childhood. So the one thing I would tell any young person is that it is never too late to start and that there are hundreds of possibilities to succeed at any given moment.

Erika Montero: Thank you very much, these are inspiring words. Once again, thank you.

Carlos Castillo-Chávez: It’s a pleasure being here.

Our thanks to Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chávez. Remember that you can subscribe in our webpage to receive this podcast. Just visit the subscription page at espanol.earthsky.org. I am Erika Montero and this was Cielo y Tierra’s “La Clara Voz” podcast . Produced by EarthSky Communications.