Identifying the Disappeared • Dr. Alexa Villavicencio Queijeiro

(Associate Professor, Forensic Genetics, National Autonomous University of Mexico || Mexico)

“In Mexico, we have a very serious problem with missing persons. It’s an old problem, and comes from 40 years ago. It started with the government disappearing people who were against them during warfare in the 60s and 70s, and for the last 14 years the war against drug cartels has escalated the violence in this country. As a result, there are many people — 80,000, maybe 100,000 — who are missing. But not only do we have a lot of missing persons, we also have a lot of bodies that have not been identified, so we have a forensic crisis.

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Seven years ago, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, along with government agencies, decided to develop a program that was aimed at teaching students to solve forensic problems. Around that time I’d just finished my PhD in biomedical research and I had a philosophical moment of reflection when I saw this program and considered applying as a student. But instead, they called me to teach biochemistry and cellular biology in the program and to do forensic research! They took a leap of faith with me even though I didn’t have a forensic background, and I took a leap of faith with them by changing to a completely different research field.

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My motto in life is ‘be the change you want to see in the world,’ and I feel teaching is like planting a seed for a better tomorrow. I try to teach with passion so that my students can learn — not only learn biology etc., but learn to be aware of the situation of our country, so that when they go out and work, they can change the system from within.”