Magis Row: Women in Science

Advice for our fellow graduating seniors: "5 To-Do's for Women Graduating in STEM"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-golluscio/5-to-dos-for-women-graduating-in-stem_b_5155065.html

5 To-Dos for Women Graduating in STEM There are so many great challenges and opportunities in our global, hyper-connected economy. The world's your oyster, but the world desperately needs you to be true to yourself, most especially you women who love innovation and technology....

"I was inspired to hear stories from the other faculty panelists about how far gender equality in STEM had come in their career lifetimes. I was even more inspired by the incredulity with which the students in the audience responded to panelists' stories of past sexism in the workplace." - Dr. Layla McCay, from our career panel last week

Women in STEM: It's Time to Redesign the Pipeline Once women have entered STEM, at every subsequent stage of their career, they run a gauntlet of subtle practical, psychological and social holes in the way of their promotions, appointment to boards, and other indicators of seniority....

A huge thank you to our panelists and everyone who made it out last week to our Building A Career In Science panel!

And last, but definitely not least, Professor Layla McCay! For those who have no idea which part of STEM interests her the most, definitely come listen to Professor McCay's various experiences in health!

Layla McCay is a physician, psychiatrist, and global public health specialist. She currently teaches the Mental Health in International Development course at Georgetown University, and is a public health consultant at the World Bank. Previously she has been Head of Policy and Advocacy for international NGO the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), on the Board of Directors of global mental health NGO Basic Needs, and has been Clinical Advisor to the World Health Organization in Geneva. She has also been Deputy Medical Director of the UK-based international healthcare company Bupa, sat on the Board of Governors of Europe's largest psychiatric hospital, and worked for the British Government as Clinical Advisor to the UK's National Health Service Medical Director.

Panelist #3! Professor Irene Jillson is a global health ethics expert with years of experience abroad doing research for the NIH as well as many other amazing organizations!

Dr. Jillson, who has a PhD in technology policy and management from Westminster University, was founder and President of Policy Research Incorporated, a private research firm that carried out local, national and international health and social policy research studies for more than 25 years. She has conducted extensive policy research and provided technical assistance and policy advice, particularly but not exclusively in Latin America and the Caribbean and in the Middle East and North Africa. This has ranged from national strategic planning to community-based participatory research addressing a wide range of health, social policy and other multi-sectoral issues, including for example services and systems integration, information systems, drug abuse and other behavioral health conditions, bioethics, HIV/AIDS (including a study of stigma and HIV/AIDS), maternal and child health, disabilities and rehabilitation, gender equity, youth issues generally, maternal and child and adolescent health, nursing roles and responsibilities and engagement in technology development and diffusion, systems planning and evaluation.

Next up: Jan Blancato, a doctor who has done work on Neurogenetics, Smith Magenis Syndrome, and breast and ovarian cancers, to name a few!

Dr. Blancato is a Geneticist and Professor of Oncology and Associate Professor of Neurology at Georgetown University Medical Center. She received her PhD from Georgetown University and trained as a Clinical Cytogeneticist and Genetic Counselor. She is Board Certified in these specialties and is fortunate to be able to practice both skills here at Georgetown University. Dr. Blancato also served as a Director of Technical Service and Training for a Biotech Company for 3 years. She enjoys teaching and is course director of the Cancer Genetics course at Georgetown University, as well as a lecturer in the Medical School, the Department of Biochemistry. Dr. Blancato has directed and taught in wet laboratory courses through the National Institutes, the National Institutes of Nursing Research Summer Genetics Institute, at the Eli Lilly Company, and Roche Diagnostics Company, onsite.

Hey everyone, check out our panelist Denitsa Apostolova who does amazing work in computer science with a social justice twist!

Denitsa Apostolova is a Senior Software Engineer at American Institutes for Research (AIR), a behavioral and social science research organization focused on improving peoples’ lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged. Denitsa is part of the Education Assessment team, creating online testing tools that serve the Department of Education in states like Oregon, Minnesota, Delaware, and Ohio. Prior to joining AIR in 2007, Denitsa was a programmer at a fast paced digital marketing start-up in Reston, VA. She received a Master of Science in Computer Science from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Georgetown University (COL’03). Denitsa is passionate about gender issues – she is currently a WAGE mentor (Women Advancing Gender Equity), and has served on the Diversity Advisory Committee at AIR.

Pete Seeger, folk singer/activist, gave us this song about his sister who wants to be an engineer back in the 70's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgzl1Sai4Y0

Pete Seeger - I'm gonna be an engineer Pete in concert with Arlo Guthrie in the late '70s performs a song written by sister Peggy.

Why We Need Women Who Code The cool kids are sitting front and center in programming classes across the country

Happy holidays! Our first gift of the season to you is our Women in Science house music video: http://host-d.oddcast.com/php/application_UI/doorId=1177/clientId=299/?mId=52473698.2

ElfYourself

Happy Computer Science Education Week!

Here's to Grace Hopper (1906-1992), a pioneer in developing computer technology. She was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, an early protocomputer built during WWII. Quite the amazing woman!

So to all the female scientists out there: keep going strong and good luck with finals!