Feature
International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2022 – Friday 11 February
Published on 10 February 2022
We are celebrating this year’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2022 by highlighting some of the amazing women undertaking and supporting remarkable research here in the University of Dundee’s School of Medicine.
Find out below what inspired them, what advice and tips they have for others, and what has kept them motivated.
Dr Anna-Maria Choy
Dr Anna-Maria Choy is a Clinical Senior Lecturer researching inherited cardiac conditions and teaching our BMSc students, as well as supervising our PG students.
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“My sheer love for science and the thrill of discovery.”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“Have faith in yourself, your intellect and abilities.”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“Find the balance to make time for yourself and your own career development.”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“The fact that my research can make a difference and improve lives of those affected by these conditions.”
Related news: Simple blood test could detect life-threatening aortic tears
Rachel Copland
Rachel Copland is a Research Fellow in our Molecular and Clinical Medicine division working in clinical trials research and clinical trial methodology.
“The pandemic showed our industry that it was quite difficult to keep trials running when participants were staying at home, and so this brought a lot of attention to a type of clinical trial called decentralised clinical trials. These trials can involve little or no in-person contact or they might use innovative technologies like wearable devices to collect trial data in new ways, with the aim of making trials easier to take part in. The research I do is part of the Trials@Home project, an initiative aiming to reshape clinical design by developing tools, standards, and recommendations for the adoption of decentralised clinical trials across Europe.”
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“My background was actually neuroscience. I stepped out of that (and the lab) and into the world of clinical trials. Science is such a huge area and there are so many different paths you can take in a scientific career. I knew I wanted to work in science because it can help people. Whether that’s making advances and discoveries about a medical condition or making sure the way we test new treatments is convenient and engaging for the participant, it’s all about finding an outcome that helps someone down the line.”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“Go for it! It can be a challenging field of study but it’s also very interesting and rewarding. When I first started university, I thought I would do my neuroscience degree and then work in a neuroscience lab and stick to neuroscience research all through my career. The reality is that an education in STEM is full of transferable skills and opens the doors to so many different but related career paths. The scientific perspective is unique and there are so many employers that would really value having a scientist in their team!”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“Every day I find myself presented with opportunities to learn something new or pass on my knowledge to others. I love learning new things and sharing what I already know. I think that’s the key to success. When you love what you do, you want to hear all about it and tell other people all about it. Passion and enthusiasm go a long way, especially when working with lots of people in different industries. The person full of excitement when talking about their career is much more likely to be remembered than someone that isn’t all that interested in what they do.”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“Every day is a school day, and that personally keeps me really engaged with what I do. That, and I don’t find my work repetitive or monotonous. There are so many avenues to pursue with a background in STEM and the career prospects are really vast! No matter where my career in STEM goes, I know I’m working towards something that will ultimately help someone somewhere down the supply chain. Whether that’s directly or indirectly, I love knowing I work in something that can genuinely make a big difference in people’s lives.”
Professor Albena T. Dinkova-Kostova
Professor Albena T. Dinkova-Kostova works in our Cellular Medicine division researching genes – environment interactions and cellular responses to stress – and she is involved in research-led teaching.
“The aim of my research is to understand how environmental exposures trigger adaptive responses that influence human health. Working at the interface between Chemistry and Biology, my research investigates the mechanisms of regulation of cytoprotective adaptive responses, with the ultimate goal of implementing knowledge from our discoveries for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. I also maintain a long-standing interest in natural product chemistry/biochemistry and its utilization, from plants to pharmacy.”
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“Human lung specimens seen in a Biology classroom when I was in middle-school, which made me curious to understand how cells, organs and organisms respond and adapt to environmental challenges.”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“Be curious and passionate about science, and listen and learn from nature.”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“Be always passionate about science and scientific research. Be consistent, reliable and persistent. Keep thinking and carefully consider what your unexpected experimental observations are trying to tell you. Listen carefully to your mentors and students.”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“The opportunity to contribute to knowledge and improve human health, and the joy from seeing the successes of my students.”
Related news: Dundee half-dozen named among world’s most influential
Dr Jenni Harvey
Dr Jenni Harvey is a Reader in our Systems Medicine division. Her research is focussed on understanding how the molecular processes that underlie learning and memory are influenced by hormonal systems in health and neurodegenerative disease.
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“During my degree I was really inspired by a guest lecture given by Sir James Black. I was also inspired by a series of lectures on synaptic plasticity in the final year of my degree. This fuelled my interest in carrying out a PhD in this area, and it is an area of research that I continue to be working on to this day.”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“Follow your dreams and believe in yourself. If you are passionate about science, there is no reason why you can’t undertake a degree in science and ultimately pursue a scientific career.”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“Network as much as you can as teamwork is a key for a successful career in science.
Mentoring is also key to success, so make full use of mentoring opportunities when they arise.”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“I’m motivated by my desire to make a difference, and specifically that my research will uncover potential novel targets for developing drugs to treat CNS disease.”
Dr Li Kang
Dr Li Kang is a Senior Lecturer in Systems Medicine researching glucose and energy metabolism in obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. She is involved in research-led teaching, supervising undergraduates and postgraduate research projects.
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“I have a lifelong interest in science, and the physiology of how the human body works.”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“Follow your interests/dreams and follow your heart.”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“Be a good team player! Build your leadership skills whenever you can.”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“Teaching is a big part of my career. Educating the younger generation of scientists has kept me motivated.”
Dr Rosamund Langston
Dr Rosamund Langston is a Lecturer in our Systems Medicine division researching learning and memory in development and dementia, as well as mentoring PhD students and hosting a lot of undergraduate research projects in her lab.
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“My gran had early onset Alzheimer’s disease which really got me thinking about how the brain works - before that I had always wanted to be a vet!”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“Go for it! You don’t need to be sure that you want to do science as a career later - scientific training teaches you lots of skills that are useful in other aspects of life too.”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“Keep an open mind- and- my own personal mantra- ‘don’t collaborate with anyone you wouldn’t have a drink with’!!!”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“A large amount of my motivation comes from the students I teach, seeing them go on to find their niche in the world, scientific or otherwise.”
Dr Federica Lopes
Dr Federica Lopes is a Lecturer in Reproductive Medicine working in our Systems Medicine division. Her research focusses on fertility preservation of cancer patients, to support young boys and girls to remain fertile after cancer treatment.
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“Studying veterinary medicine, I discovered the world of reproductive biology and experimental embryology.”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
If you are thinking about a career in science just go for it! Be determined, perseverant, ambitious, and you will succeed.
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
The best advice I can give to any woman interested in a career in science is to not be scared of going around knocking on doors. Just talk to anybody, knock on as many doors as you can. The right one will open for you.
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
I remained motivated throughout the downs in my career because of my love for reproductive biology. Because being a scientist was the best thing I could do for myself, and the best way I had to support others who wanted to become a scientist.
Professor Isla Mackenzie
Professor Isla Mackenzie works in our Molecular and Clinical Medicine division on clinical trials, especially in cardiovascular disease.
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“I enjoy the intellectual challenge and the ability to make an important difference to patient care and outcomes through clinical research.”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“Science offers an interesting and varied career. There are so many opportunities and different avenues to pursue that there is something to suit everyone.”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“Keep your eye on the wider picture and go for important goals that will change lives.”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“A real interest in the work I do and the things that can be achieved through well-designed clinical trials to help patients.”
Related news: Dundee academic named among 2021’s ‘Movers and Shakers’
Dr Nicola Morrice
Dr Nicola Morrice is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in our Cellular Medicine division researching type 2 diabetes and its complications, as well as supervising honours student projects.
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“I have had an interest in science since childhood - I’ve always liked finding new things out.”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“Try different things until you find something that sparks your interest and work on that.
Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that science isn’t for girls.”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“Build a support network of other scientists around you. Accept that things will not always go as you plan. Keep working on things that you are passionate about.”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“Knowing that even the experiments that fail allow you to keep building your knowledge and improve the understanding we have of how things work.”
Dr Giorgia De Paoli
Dr Giorgia De Paoli is a research pharmacist working at the school of Medicine in the University of Dundee and I am one of the co-leaders of a work package for an IMI (Innovative Medicine Initiative, www.imi.europa.eu) Horizon2020 3.1M, 4-year project called RealHOPE looking at the stability of protein drugs.
“Along with my colleagues, patients, healthcare providers and distributors I am gathering information related to the handling of protein drug products and the stressors encountered on a daily base in the real world. By understanding these stressors and implementing measures and training to mitigate them, our goal is to deliver better healthcare to the patient by ensuring safety and stability of these products."
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“I have always been fascinated by science. I was a pretty curious child, I loved reading children books talking about science and I remember setting up experiments in my garden to pretend I was the scientists in the books that I was reading. Quite soon I asked to have one of those children’s microscopes. I was going around in the garden collecting leaves, dead insects and pinching my fingers with a needle to get a bit of blood and check it under the microscope. ”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“Do it! Don’t be afraid of anything. Keep your dreams alive, pursue them. The path is not easy and does not get easier with time. There are going to be a lot of bad days, few good days and extremely rare incredible days. But the latter will give you immense satisfaction, a bunch of adrenaline and will make you understand what a great job you have done. ”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“My advice for women entering a STEM discipline is to build a solid base of knowledge, discipline and hard work. My advice to succeed is to learn something new every day. More experienced colleagues will have a lot to teach you. Simple intuitions will, at times become brilliant ideas (trust yourself when you bring them forward). Surround yourself with positive and generous people, they will help you to get through the forest. Be patient. Be generous with those still at the beginning of their path.”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“I am a very stubborn, resilient and not afraid of changes person. Working in science is not a job for me but it is a passion.”
Related news: £500,000 to study how drug handling impacts on efficacy
Dr Amy Rogers
Dr Amy Rogers is a Clinical Research Fellow in our Molecular and Clinical Medicine division developing methods to improve the way that we ensure the safety and effectiveness of medicines.
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“I’ve been interested in science and medicine for as long as I can remember. I have so many questions about how the human body works. I trained in medicine and worked as a GP. When I realised that I had so many more questions about how medicines worked I moved into clinical research.”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“Stay curious and keep an open mind. You never know where your questions will take you.”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“Build a network around you of people with similar interests and goals. Science is teamwork.”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“I’m motivated by curiosity and a desire to do things better.”
Read more about Dr Rogers on our staff pages [https://www.dundee.ac.uk/people/amy-rogers]
Related news: Major university study sheds light on vaccine side effects
Dr Gillian Smith
Dr Gillian Smith is a Senior Lecturer in our Cellular Medicine division who is running a translational research programme focussing on inter-patient differences in treatment response in cancer patients.
“My research group is particularly interested in trying to understand why patients who initially respond well to treatment, stop responding or become “resistant”. I’m also very involved in research-led teaching – in addition to teaching medical and science students, I’m one of the leads for the BMSc programme for intercalating medical students, course lead for BMSc Genetics, Cancer & Personalised Medicine and help to co-ordinate the joint School of Medicine/School of Life Sciences Biological and Biomedical Sciences programmes.”
What inspired you to undertake a career in science?
“Great teaching at school (apart from physics!) and the combination of a research scientist father and mother diagnosed and successfully treated for breast cancer in her 20s.”
What advice would you give to girls who want to study science?
“It’s a really exciting time to work in biomedical research – the science you learn at school can create so many opportunities and lead to so many different career choices. Don’t think of chemistry, biology and physics as different subjects – everything is related. I studied Chemistry initially, then did a cancer-focussed PhD in Medicine – and am still learning!”
What are your best tips for other women in STEM disciplines to succeed?
“Teamwork is essential – none of us can succeed on our own. Combining teaching, research and public engagement is really important – we all have a responsibility to pass on our knowledge to the next generation, and to communicate our science in an enthusiastic and accessible manner.”
What has kept you motivated to pursue your goals?
“The patients we recruit to our translational research studies, and the patients, their families and local fundraisers I’ve met over more than 20 years working with the Ninewells Cancer Campaign and Maggie’s Dundee.”