By Jewelle Saunders
“Choose a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” This common inspirational quote reassured 2018 YLAI Fellow Priscilla Ortiz Porras about her innovative veterinary regenerative medicine practice in her community in Costa Rica.
Founder and chief executive of Innova Biomedicina Veterinary and Innova Células Madre, Priscilla has always worked hard to pursue her passion of working with animals, finding her place in veterinary medicine. She has launched the first regenerative medicine center in Latin America, and her advanced biomedical services have saved her community’s pets countless times in safe and innovative ways.
During the YLAI program, Priscilla spent time at a technology company researching stem cells and diabetes in animals and humans. She says the experience opened her eyes to the potential capabilities she could take back to her practice in Costa Rica.
The mission of Priscilla’s practice is always to improve the quality of life of her community’s animals without any side effects. “I was
most interested in the innovation of regeneration, and how you can use innate capabilities of the body and enhance without the use of chemicals,” she says. Using stem cells, Priscilla has found new ways to deliver healthy results without the use of chemicals and harmful alternative resources.
She has come across barriers in her community due to a lack of knowledge about this kind of treatment. “If they all understood the potential, they would view it as a need,” she says. Business is often spread by word-of-mouth by those who see results and understand the science after firsthand experiences.
Priscilla celebrates the number of women she has come across in her field of work, particularly when she was at university and found her classes split half and half between men and women. The number of women veterinarians and veterinary surgeons is steadily growing.
Priscilla is also the president of the International Association of Cellular and Regenerative Veterinary Engrossed Therapies (IACERVET). She regularly speaks at conferences and seminars and is the organizer of the First and Second International Congress of Regenerative Medicine in Costa Rica. She aims to keep learning as much as possible regarding her field of regenerative medicine.
“I believe it is important for women to pursue education for what they love and have a dream to be a part of,” says Priscilla. She encourages YLAI members, particularly young women, to pursue their dreams and persevere in the face of adversity. “Never give up, and it will happen one way or another,” she pledges.