The sisterhood at the Plant Tissue Culture in St Philip facility has become the nurturing force behind a young scientist’s growing ambition to help find a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
Senior agricultural assistant Romelia Dabreo has found more than employment within the laboratory’s walls. She has discovered mentorship, empowerment and a sense of purpose among a close-knit team of women who helped transform her curiosity into a passion for scientific research.
Surrounded daily by head of the facility Dr Sophia Marshall, senior laboratory assistants Althea Grace and Deslyn Newton, along with laboratory worker Sandra Alleyne-Belgrave, Dabreo said the environment created by the women around her gave her the confidence to thrive in a field she never imagined entering.
“I would say it’s a great opportunity for me because the women here are very nice ladies. They like to share their knowledge and they make me feel comfortable and at home,” the 24 year-old from Heddings, St Philip said.
The University of the West Indies graduate now hopes to use the scientific techniques she developed inside the laboratory to one day contribute towards slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, or potentially finding a cure.
“In the future I would like to do research catered in particular to those with Alzheimer’s, finding a cure by using my techniques and skills developed from tissue culture and extracting the phytochemicals from things like sweet potatoes, yams, you know those grown provisions we grew up on when we were younger,” Dabreo explained.
Scientist Romelia Dabreo is on a mission to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and is encouraging other young people to find a career in agriculture. (Photo Credit: MOAFNS)
Her journey into agriculture and plant science did not begin with a lifelong fascination for plants. In fact, she initially dreamed of becoming a veterinarian and admitted she once had little interest in crops or tissue culture research.
“I like interacting with different people and hearing different people’s experiences and stuff,” she said.
“But now that I am here, I had a whole mindset change. I actually developed a love for plants now so much so that I actually started helping my mom at home with her garden.”
Dabreo studied Biochemistry and Microbiology at UWI after beginning her degree journey in 2021 before graduating in 2025. Her introduction to the Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory came through an internship opportunity last June, shortly after completing university.
From left: Senior laboratory assistant Deslyn Newton, laboratory worker Sandra Alleyne-Belgrave, senior laboratory assistant Romelia Dabreo and senior laboratory assistant Althea Grace. (Photo Credit: MOAFNS)
“Before then, I didn’t really have much knowledge or knew exactly what tissue culture was all about, because at the time I just wanted some experience. Being a recent graduate of the university, that was my main goal, to get some experience in a lab setting. So that’s how I ended up here,” she said.
What started as a temporary opportunity quickly evolved into a career pathway. Dabreo secured a position at the facility two months later, something she admitted came as an unexpected but welcomed surprise at a time when many young graduates struggle to find employment.
“I would say that it was very exhilarating. And the fact that, you know, I didn’t really expect to get a position here.
“I just came into work. My main focus was to get the experience and then go and try to develop some type of career in the path of science, hoping to continue to follow my dream,” Dabreo said.
As she immersed herself in laboratory work, her passion for plant tissue culture steadily grew.
Her growing interest also extended beyond the laboratory and into experiments at home alongside her mother, who she described as naturally creative and curious.
“She has a half barrel and puts different compost in it hoping that the things can leach when it rains into the garden beds,” Dabreo said, while describing some of the backyard agricultural experiments taking place at home.
“My mother also uses grass cuttings instead of actual soil to grow sweet potatoes and cassava, and they’re growing, they’re growing so nicely.”
For Dabreo, agriculture now represents far more than field labour, and she believes many young people underestimate the opportunities available within the sector.
“For the younger generation they mostly look at agriculture as hard, laborious, hot sun, continuous field work, but it’s so much more,” she said.
“So many different fields you can explore in agriculture, from apiculture to the very tissue culture, so many different things you can do, and you can even combine technology; AI, because knowing the era of AI and, you know, make something of yourself.”
She added that agriculture gives young people an opportunity to contribute to national development while building meaningful careers.
“It’s contributing to something much greater than yourself, you’re looking at developing or helping Barbados become more food secure, as well as getting our stuff outside on the international stage,” Dabreo said. (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Security).
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