To celebrate International Women’s Day this year, I’ve shared my advice and experiences at our institute to help empower more women.
We were asked to answer three questions, and below are my responses.
1, What does International Women’s Day mean to you personally?
Growing up in a male-oriented culture and building my career in male-dominated fields like Computer Science and Bioinformatics, International Women’s Day reminds me why representation matters. It’s a day to celebrate women’s achievements and to reaffirm our commitment to a future where everyone has an equal chance to innovate and thrive.
2, What is the best advice another woman has ever given you?
“Live life to the fullest. Don’t let the fear of failure hold you back.” That was the best advice my mom—also a scientist—gave me. In science, setbacks are part of the journey. Experiments fail. Papers and proposals get rejected. But what keeps us going is the passion for discovery and the courage to face failure without fear. In the end, it’s that love for the work, and the resilience to keep trying, that allows us to stay and thrive in science.
3, What advice would you give to your younger self or to young women entering your field?
As a computer scientist and bioinformatician, there are countless paths and opportunities to explore. For me, however, the greatest motivation comes from working on real-world projects and creating tools that are genuinely useful to others. Nothing makes me happier than knowing that a small program I wrote or an algorithm I developed has helped someone, somewhere in the world, overcome challenges in analyzing their data.
