Stolen breath, inspired dream: Yanes Cardozo’s life speaks to her patients

Published on Monday, August 19, 2024

By: Gary Pettus, gpettus@umc.edu

Photos By: Jay Ferchaud and Melanie Thortis/ UMMC Communications

Editor’s note: This is an updated reprint of an article originally published in Mississippi Medicine, the School of Medicine alumni magazine. 

When her breath tried to leave her, she had to endure it; she was a little girl then, and inhalers weren’t available.  

Because the asthma spells could strike at two in the morning, her family had to wait five or six hours sometimes, until the pharmacy opened, to give her some relief.  

“I had shortness of breath. But I also felt better knowing that I would be going to the doctor: It made me feel strong; I wanted to be that person, and I’ve always made sure I stayed true to that feeling,” said Dr. Licy Yanes Cardozo. 

That feeling of strength she spreads now to her patients, including those at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she has spent the past 20-plus years – currently as associate professor of pharmacology/toxicology and associate professor of medicine-endocrinology. 

Born 4,500 miles from Jackson, she grew up during the 70’s, in Paraguay’s capital, Asuncion, in a household considered middle class for her country. 

Her mother, along with two sisters and a brother, still live in Paraguay. She tries to visit them once a year, taking her two teenage daughters with her.  

It is a time to remember what she learned there and how it helped her get here.  

‘I’m sure she is so proud’ 

“My grandmother did not go to school,” she said. “She did not know how to write or read. Her advice to me was: ‘Get your education so people will not take advantage of you.’  

“Education was a way to get what you wanted out of life. Getting an education will set you free.  

“I always remember my grandmother when something good happens in my academic life. I am sure she is so proud of all of us.”  

Yanes Cardozo is part of the first generation in her family to attend college. The name of her hometown, in English, is “Ascension.” 

 “I always like to say this about Licy: She is really one of the few triple threats in academia,” said Dr. Lillian Lien, professor of medicine-endocrinology and director of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes. 

“For someone to be able to remain an accomplished researcher, teacher and physician all at once is really a big challenge. You have someone who is a mom with kids but who also is doing all of this.” 

As a researcher, teacher and mentor, Yanes Cardozo has touched the life of Dr. Raksha Chatakondi, who, as a medical student at UMMC, conducted research with her and is now a medicine-pediatrics resident in Greenville, South Carolina. 

“When she spoke to me at our first meeting, I felt like we had known each other our entire lives,” said Chatakondi, who was brought up in Greenwood and Greenville. 

“Her experience coming from another country, I believe, has helped her connect with people because she went through a lot and is able to relate to a lot of students and what they are going through.” 

In her two decades at UMMC, Yanes Cardozo has received a number of honors, including induction into The Academy for Excellence in Education in 2023.  

Years earlier, she accepted the 2016 Stanley Chapman Young Investigator Research Excellence Award; she dedicated it to her grandmother.   

‘It’s scary to leave home’ 

Yanes Cardozo gave Dr. Erica Rubio much to ponder concerning her future. “If I decide what I want to do is research, it’s because of her,” Rubio said shortly before graduating from the UMMC School of Medicine in May.  

“I’ve learned through her that research helps us give a voice to people – by using numbers that cannot be disputed,” said Rubio, now a medicine-pediatrics resident at UMMC. And that, with a simple adjustment in treatment, you can make such a big difference for these patients.” 

Yanes Cardozo’s own future as a researcher, physician and teacher may have been kindled by her experience with childhood asthma, but her passion for science added fuel. 

As a high school student in Asuncion, she loved studying biology. After she arrived in medical school at the National University of Asuncion, another subject courted her: physiology.  

She read Textbook of Medical Physiology, the epic work originally written and edited by UMMC legend, Dr. Arthur C. Guyton. “The way he wrote was like you were reading a story,” she said. 

She also enjoyed the compelling narrative of pharmacology: “With one pill you can change so many functions in your body – it’s so powerful.” 

Sometime after reaching her dream of earning a medical degree, in 1997, she had more time to ponder her next one.  

“It’s scary to leave home,” she said, “but my dream was always to come to the U.S., ever since I became a medical student.” 

After she completed her residency in internal medicine, the dream showed up on her doorstep – actually in her email. 

‘Good soil to the seed’ 

When the offer arrived from UMMC, her English was a bit sparse. But she certainly knew how to say “yes.” “I said it in my email even before I knew exactly what the job was,” she said. 

Earlier, in Paraguay, she had heard a talk from a visiting professor from Mississippi: Dr. Jane Reckelhoff, now professor of pharmacology/toxicology and former chair and professor emerita of the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at UMMC. 

Because of that connection and a recommendation, a year or so later, Reckelhoff was able to offer her a position at the Medical Center: post-doctoral candidate, starting in 2002. 

The decision was muy acertada.   

“I learned to do research here,” Yanes Cardozo said, “and I met my husband here”: Dr. Damian Romero, professor of pharmacology/toxicology, her research collaborator and “rock.” 

She also met that incomparable physiologist/storyteller, Guyton. And she met, in person, Reckelhoff, who would become her mentor.  

“The relationship I have with her is one of the things I value the most,” Yanes Cardozo said. “Good mentors are like good soil to the seed.”  

The seed grew and the harvest was generous. Early in her career, Yanes Cardozo developed a rat model for polycystic ovary syndrome, leading to new findings, including one related to blood pressure, an issue with women who have PCOS.  

“Licy is an excellent physician and scientist and now has her own National Institutes of Health funding,” Reckelhoff said. “She works very hard, and has great ideas. I’m certain she will continue to be successful in her research and clinical career. 

“Licy also has a great personality and makes working in the lab fun. I’m proud and honored to have been her mentor.”  

For years, Yanes Cardozo concentrated mostly on research; science still engages her. But, one day, she realized something was missing.  

‘The relief in their face’ 

Erica Rubio’s mom is from Puerto Rico, her dad from Mexico. Born in Mississippi, she grew up speaking English and Spanish. 

“I really love it here,” Rubio said. “It always felt like home – the city, the trees, the people. Even people who were struggling always extended something to me – inviting me to dinner – when they probably couldn’t afford it.”  

She has received intangible gifts, too, not least of all from her role model. “If I had not met Dr. Yanes Cardozo, I would not have grown into the student I am,” Rubio said, “and into the physician I hope to be. 

“It’s crazy – she cares about anyone and everyone, and fixes what she can. She understands the struggles of those who speak a second language and tries to minimize whatever struggles they are going through. She just has to help.” 

Yanes Cardozo extends a lot of help to the Hispanic community; that’s how Rubio got to know her well. With another medical student – now a UMMC surgery resident, Dr. Alex Fratesi – Rubio established a day set aside periodically for Hispanic patients at the Jackson Free Clinic. They did it with Yanes Cardozo’s help. 

On a November Saturday morning, Oscar Perez Aguilon, 54, a native of Guatemala, had traveled to Jackson from Carthage. He knew his blood sugar was high. A construction worker and father of two who sings in his church, he sat in an exam room at the clinic on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, a health care haven for patients who lack insurance. 

“For a Hispanic, when we get sick, it’s hard because medicine is so expensive,” he said. He might have to choose between eating and getting his medicine. “I ran out of insulin yesterday,” he said. 

He was speaking mostly in Spanish, but two members of his health care team that day had no trouble understanding him: Yanes Cardozo and Rubio. 

“Yesterday, I was talking to my friend who is from Mexico,” Aguilon said. “He told me he had never heard of a place where he could get help like I’m getting here. If you don’t speak any English, it’s very helpful to be able to talk with someone who speaks Spanish.” 

Whenever a physician can speak the same language as a patient, “the connection is deeper and stronger,” Yanes Cardozo said.  

“I open the door and say, ‘Hola,’ and see the relief in their face. It goes back to that feeling I had myself when I was a little girl.” 

Near the end of Aguilon’s visit, a UMMC pharmacy student at the time, Garrette Ozborn, stepped in with a three-month supply of insulin. Made available through a patient assistance program, it was for the patient who needed it so. 

“It’s one of the cases that warms my heart,” said Yanes Cardozo.  

This is what she had been missing.  

‘Buenos Dias!’ 

Patients. 

She also sees them at her clinic on the UMMC campus, at the UMMC Pavilion. There, she focuses on endocrinology for people like Meagan Vanderford of Florence. 

“I love her,” said Vanderford, who is battling a hormonal issue. “She’s the first provider who has made me hopeful about getting back to being myself.” 

And patients like Rachel Macoy, 26, of Harrisville. “She treats me like I’m one of her daughters,” said Macoy, who is being treated for her endocrine disorder. “She’ll call the house to check on me. She’s my second mama.”  

Many of her patients at the Pavilion are Spanish-only speakers. Much of the music she listens to, and sings, is also in the language that brought her up in Paraguay.  

“I feel better after a song,” she said. “My voice is horrible, though. It’s a torture to my family: ‘No, mommy, please no.’ 

“But I like the Hispanic songs; they go easier in my mind.” 

She did not sing at UMMC’s first-ever Hispanic Day, held in March 2023. But her greeting, inside a spacious School of Medicine lecture hall, must have been like music to her listeners’ 100 pairs of ears: “Buenos Dias! me encanta ver tanta gente hoy aca, realmente es emocionante para mi [Good morning, I love to see so many people here today; this is really exciting for me]!” 

The visitors, mostly high school students from across the state, were there to learn about the rewards of a health care career. 

Like Yanes Cardozo, many were from families whose relatives spoke mostly, or only, Spanish. Yanes acknowledged their background – and their potential value to future patients. 

“We need you for exactly who you are,” she said. “We need your energy, your dreams, your passion.” 

Recalling that moment several months later, she admitted that she had been “emotional” and “overwhelmed.” 

“I was expecting about 20 students. But that room was filled with them – and their energy. 

“Seeing so many who wanted to come to UMMC and choose education to get what they want out of life, like I did – it touched my heart.” 

And took her breath away.