Juliana Marquezi Pereira

Sigma member Juliana Marquezi Pereira, BSN, RN, says she found her career path by chance. She always thought she wanted to be a diplomat, so she studied politics, international law, and languages. But the need to take care of people close to her made her think how much she could help them and make a difference in everyone's life.

After three years studying history and geography at a public college, Juliana realized she needed a change. After passing the vestibular for nursing—an exam necessary to get into a college or university in Brazil—she started her bachelor's degree in 2007 and graduated in 2011.

But then her godmother needed an oncological treatment that they didn't have in their rural city in the State of São Paulo, so Juliana’s family moved to São Paulo City. At the same time, she read a report in a newspaper about upcoming intestinal and multivisceral transplants in Brazil that sparked her interest. She researched and found a multidisciplinary specialization in donation, harvesting, and transplantation of organs and tissues at one of the hospitals qualified to perform that type of transplant. While working on her year of specialization, Juliana was awarded a scholarship and started as an intern at the organ transplant ward at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in São Paulo which soon led to a full-time job.

Four years after, Juliana was invited to become the Leader of Coordinators and Nursing Liver and Digestive Organs Transplantation, the first liver transplant group in Brazil. It’s the group’s responsibility to plan, manage, monitor, and guide all patients who are enrolled on a liver, pancreas, intestine, and multivisceral transplant list. In addition, they conduct the transplant logistics when there is a donor—confirming data at the Transplant Center and from the donor and recipient surgery along with summoning the patient and the entire team that will work on the surgery.

Working in the largest Brazilian public hospital complex, Juliana is often exposed to new discoveries and rare and difficult cases, which has inspired her to study and research more to improve outcomes for her patients. Recently, her transplant team performed the first uterus transplant in Latin America. The recipient went on to give birth to the first baby ever carried by a uterus transplanted from a deceased donor!