Pedro Antonio Valdes-Sosa, a 66-year-old scientist from Cuba, now makes his home in Chengdu, Sichuan province. In his daily life in Chengdu, Valdes-Sosa carries his dog -- a stray that he rescued -- to and from work every day.

Valdes-Sosa, the general vice-director for research of the Cuban Neurosciences Center, is among those foreign experts who were brought to China under the national strategic plan. He and his wife, Maria Luisa Bringas-Vega, also a scientist, now reside in Chengdu.

Valdes-Sosa endeavors to make high-end medical facilities available to everyone, in order to encourage people to monitor the health of their brains. Currently, he is trying to turn brain monitors and scanners into wearable devices.

Outside of his career, the man also knows how to embrace life. He rescued a stray dog, which later he named Niña, and he has carried the dog with him to and from work every day since.

Valdes-Sosa has become accustomed to life in Chengdu, and he lives more and more like a local. For example, he has developed a liking for hot pot and mah-jong, even going so far as to find himself a mah-jong tutor.

At the same time, he supports the building of two China-Cuba joint labs and deepening cooperation between Chengdu and Cuba in the bioengineering and pharmaceutical industries. The work he does now focuses on Alzheimer's and dementia. More than anything, he hopes such diseases can be detected and eliminated before they develop and interfere with people’s health. Valdes-Sosa also expressed his wish to help cultivate more talent in China.