Lecție de iubire | Luiza Spiru | TEDxConstanta

Introducere și context personal

• It can be challenging to talk about oneself, especially in the medical field, where recognition often comes after achieving success in the international or European arena (19s).
• The speaker's professional and personal history is intertwined, making it difficult to separate the two, and their entire life has been a lesson in love (1m0s).
• When one is passionate about something, time seems to compact, and although this can have costs, it is a worthwhile trade-off (1m19s).
• Today is the day of education, and being in an educational institution, it is essential to remember that a mentor or teacher can open doors, but it is up to the individual to walk through them (1m36s).

Importanța carierei și a înțelegerii naturii umane

• Success in one's career can lead to a holistic understanding of human nature, and the speaker's multiple specialties have given them a deeper understanding of what it means to be human (2m8s).
• The natural history of one's life is what drives them towards success, failures, fears, and ultimately, success (2m25s).
• The speaker will share their personal story, including their failures, fears, and what has brought them to where they are today (2m42s).

Istoric familial și originile vorbitoarei

• The speaker comes from a family of migrants, with their mother's family being Italian and their father's family being Greek from Salonica, which is why they have kept their original name (3m10s).
• The speaker's father had wanted a boy, but after having a girl, he said that real men only have daughters (3m17s).
• Luiza Spiru kept her surname, Spiru, and did not change it, for which she thanks her parents and children, who also kept her surname as their double surname (3m22s).
• Luiza Spiru's birth was a significant event, especially since her father had wanted a boy, resulting in high pressure on her to fulfill both parents' expectations (3m37s).
• Luiza Spiru's parents were good educators, and she grew up in a beautiful and loving environment with them (3m47s).

Experiențe din copilărie și impactul lor

• At the age of five, Luiza Spiru was not very well-behaved, as evidenced by an incident where she stuck her fingers in a socket, which led to her becoming stuttering for a period (4m2s).
• As a result of the stuttering, Luiza Spiru started speech therapy at the age of six and diction lessons at the age of seven, which greatly helped her in her future academic career and as a public speaker (4m21s).
• Luiza Spiru's family was unique in that her parents loved each other, and her father even sang to her mother before passing away (4m57s).
• The lesson of love from her family was the first and most important lesson Luiza Spiru learned, which she considers essential to her expertise (5m19s).
• At the age of six, Luiza Spiru had another life-threatening experience when she almost drowned at the beach, but was saved by her mother (5m28s).
• Luiza Spiru's relationship with her mother was very special and profound, like a deep friendship, and her mother's loss was a great sorrow and shock (5m59s).

Anii de liceu și alegerea medicinei

• The person in the photo is shown as a well-behaved individual, but they claim to have been the most turbulent in their class of 25 girls, where they were chosen as the leader due to their leadership qualities (6m32s).
• They attended the Eminescu High School and were the valedictorian, but they didn't behave well, and 23 out of 25 girls in their class went on to study medicine (6m43s).
• They were determined to study medicine, specifically the phenomenon of aging, due to their desire to understand why their grandparents didn't live longer (6m54s).
• The motivation behind their interest in aging came from their personal experience of not having their grandparents around, as their maternal grandmother was a victim of the communist system, and her paternal grandfather died in prison (7m23s).
• They were determined to pursue medicine, focusing on research and clinical practice related to aging and longevity, and their first publication was at the age of 21 on a study about gerovital on human erythrocytes (7m56s).

Mentori și începuturile carierei în cercetarea îmbătrânirii

• Their first mentor was their father, a criminalist and expert in graphology, and their second mentor was Professor Laurențiu Popescu, an academician who encouraged them to pursue their goals (8m13s).
• They have always been out of the box and never liked to follow the trend, instead choosing their own path, which they knew wouldn't be easy, especially for a woman (8m22s).
• A photo from their studies shows them after falling from a train at the age of 22, where they were stung by a bee, developed glottal edema, and were taken to the hospital by their mother (8m43s).
• A journey of studying geriatrics, gerontology, and the medicine of aging began with a long period of studying abroad, starting at the age of 21 and a half, with the first stop being Sweden to pursue a specialization in internal medicine, as geriatrics was not recognized as an academic specialty at the time (9m6s).

Studii în străinătate și întoarcerea în România

• The decision to pursue this field was driven by the desire to put Romania back on the international map of aging research, which had fallen into obscurity and was no longer recognized (9m45s).
• After studying in Sweden at the Karolinska Institute for three years, a brainwash, as it's called in psychiatry, was done, and the decision was made to return home to Romania in 2001 (10m23s).
• The return was motivated by family obligations, as the only child of parents, and despite receiving many offers to stay abroad (10m56s).
• Upon returning, the International Foundation for Research and Development was created at the suggestion of friends from the academic environment, which has become a top 10 organization in Europe and top globally (11m12s).
• This entrepreneurial endeavor has enabled Romania to be put back on the map of aging research, a childhood dream (11m29s).

Înființarea Centrului de Excelență și experiențe cu pacienți

• The career began in Bucharest, alongside the mentor and great supporter, the speaker's father, who was a significant influence in the academic environment (11m40s).
• In 2003, the first center of excellence for memory diseases was established in Bucharest, which has since become the Center of Excellence for memory diseases, cerebral health, and longevity medicine, and has seen over 20,000 patients throughout its existence (12m2s).
• This center is unique in Romania and among centers of excellence in Europe, and is part of the most important consortia of this type worldwide (12m27s).
• The person holds a photograph very dear, which includes their brother, who had Alzheimer's disease and was a patient for almost 12 years (12m34s).
• The person's father was the longest-living patient with vascular dementia in Romania, living and surviving well for 24 years (13m0s).
• The person believes that a patient's survival for 40 years means they should be offered a quality of life, which was the case for their father, except for the last two years (13m9s).
• The person's education, intelligence, and understanding of the disease helped them work as a team with their father and the professional team (13m36s).

Familie și copii

• The person always wanted children, but it happened late in life, and their professional life took priority (13m47s).
• The person is not in favor of marital contracts or divorce, believing it's better not to sign a contract to avoid its termination (14m2s).
• The person's parents wished for them to get married to escape their strong personality, but they eventually had children at 38 years old (14m13s).
• The person values gratitude as one of the most important human character traits (14m35s).
• The person's children are united and are the second generation of doctors in the family, with one year left to finish medical school (14m48s).
• The person did not force their children to pursue medicine, but they were influenced by the environment and the people they grew up with (15m3s).
• Children often do not choose to pursue a career in medicine because their parents are too preoccupied with their own careers and are frequently absent from home, however, this was not the case for the speaker's children as they were born later in life when the speaker already had a established schedule (15m21s).
• The speaker's children are part of the second generation of doctors in their family and the speaker wishes them success in doing what their hearts desire (15m32s).

Pasiunea pentru medicină și artă

• When speaking about one's achievements and performances on the world stage, it is essential to have passions, and for the speaker, medicine has always been an art and a labor of love (15m52s).
• The speaker asks their students why they chose to pursue a career in medicine, and notes that in the past 10 years, fewer students have chosen the profession out of vocation, with many instead being motivated by the potential for higher pay and greater financial stability (15m58s).
• The speaker believes that medicine and complacency are incompatible, and that if one is complacent, they will not be able to achieve their goals in the field (16m33s).
• The speaker is passionate about art, having grown up in an artistic and cosmopolitan environment, and views art as a form of healing (16m43s).
• The speaker's upbringing was influenced by their parents, who were not of Romanian origin, and exposed them to a diverse cultural environment, including Jewish, Armenian, Turkish, Tatar, and Greek cultures (16m49s).
• The speaker views their profession as an art form, and notes that they have also become interested in the art of longevity, which is a field of medicine that encompasses 25 different domains and explores what is important for each individual (17m12s).

Sănătatea mintală și îmbătrânirea

• The speaker believes that the greatest wealth is mental health, and has focused on this aspect of health over the past 25 years (18m3s).
• Aging is associated with mental and cerebral health, and our real age is determined by how we interact with our environment and the performance we have achieved, which can be quantified through biomarkers and other available tools (18m14s).
• The role of modern medicine is no longer just to diagnose, but also to prevent and use technology and innovation to determine molecular age (18m34s).
• This approach is being implemented in the Center of Excellence, where the focus is on prevention and using technology to determine molecular age (18m48s).

Importanța alegerii propriului drum în viață

• Many people, even at the age of 30 or 40, struggle to find their identity and purpose in life, often feeling like they are just going through the motions without making their own choices (19m12s).
• It is essential to choose one's path in life based on vocational calling and talent, rather than just following what others expect (19m28s).
• A key principle in life is that one is only what they negotiate to be, and it is crucial to learn how to negotiate one's life and make choices that align with one's desires and talents (19m48s).
• Pursuing a career in medicine should be seen as a calling, a gift, and an art, and even in medicine, one can negotiate their path and make choices that align with their goals and aspirations (20m13s).