The Life of Her Mind

Dr. Eileen Cardillo, cognitive neuroscientist and Associate Director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, discusses her research interests and career path. From her early childhood encounters with chimpanzees and a fascination with what makes humans unique in the animal world to a career in cognitive neuroscience, Dr. Cardillo explains how she realized that studying the brain was essential for...

Dr. Eileen Cardillo, cognitive neuroscientist and Associate Director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, discusses her research interests and career path. From her early childhood encounters with chimpanzees and a fascination with what makes humans unique in the animal world to a career in cognitive neuroscience, Dr. Cardillo explains how she realized that studying the brain was essential for...

What drives women in science to challenge the status quo?  The Life of Her Mind host, Mia Wood, discusses this question and more with Dr. Agnes Caruso, Head Consultant at Caruso International, a consulting firm specializing in the diagnostics industry, and founder of geneIQ, a nonprofit genetics and diagnostic organization aimed at helping people make sense of their genome. Hear Dr. Caruso  discus...

What drives women in science to challenge the status quo?  The Life of Her Mind host, Mia Wood, discusses this question and more with Dr. Suanna Crowley, anthropologist, geoscientist, founder of Headfort Consulting, science communications specialist, and Lead Archaeologist with SWCA, a national environmental consulting firm.    Hear  Dr. Crowly    Discuss her path to science, particularly anthropo...

What drives women in science to challenge the status quo? In this episode of  The Life of Her Mind , host Mia Wood sits down with Dr. Katherine Roe, Chief Scientist in the Laboratory Investigations Department at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).  Hear Dr. Roe:    - explain her initial interest in science, which led her to graduate magna cum laude from Syracuse University, with de...

What drives groundbreaking women in science to push beyond boundaries? In this episode of  Life of Her Mind , Mia Wood sits down with Dr. Shella Keilholz, Principal Investigator in The Keilholz Mind Lab at Emory University and Georgia Tech. Dr. Keilholz discusses her academic journey, starting with physics and eventually focusing on non-invasive brain imaging through MRI.  Hear Dr. Keilholz   expl...

Dr. Jeanne Jordan discusses her long and exemplary career, which was prompted by growing up in the era just before the polio vaccine was created and an outbreak of Newcastle disease in her father’s flock of chickens. Jeanne talks about her work in global public health, scientific education, and her experiences navigating a male-dominated professional environment, while emphasizing the importance o...

Dr. Veena Joy, the U.S. Lead for Strategic Partnerships in Allergy and Autoimmunity at Thermo Fisher Scientific discusses her career transition from academic research to industry work at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Driven by her interest in health economics and the underexplored aspects of autoimmune disease diagnostics, Dr. Joy transitioned to a focus on translational medicine and autoimmune diagno...

Dr. Kellie Smith is an Associate Professor of Oncology in the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In this interview, Dr. Smith shares how she came to study science and specialize in T-cell immunology and immunotherapy. She also discusses how she developed an original assay for detecting anti-tumor immune responses in specific types of lung c...

Dr. Stephanie Poindexter is a biological anthropologist at the University of Buffalo specializing in primatology. Doctor Poindexter conducts field, lab, and desk-based research into how primates use and navigate their habitats. More specifically, Doctor Poindexter investigates primate movement, morphology, and cognition. Of particular interest is the slow loris. Dr. Poindexter investigates how the...

Kinesiology Professor Shilo Nelson’s story highlights the important point that there is no one correct way to approach a career in STEM. Our conversation covers a range of topics, including the following:   Prof. Nelson’s experience in the United States Air Force How Prof. Nelson parlayed her discipline and physical fitness into a stint as a Seattle Sea Hawks cheerleader; The importance of seeing...

Tomi Akingbade is the founder of the Black Women in Science Network and a Ph. D. student in Neurochemistry at the University of Cambridge. Tomi’s scientific research centers on the inflammatory mechanisms of aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease.  Interested in science since childhood, Tomi founded the Black Women in Science Network as a response to the lack of frank conversations about being a Black...

Dr. Kisha Supernant, Biography from The University of Alberta: Dr. Kisha Supernant (Métis/Papaschase/British) is the Director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology and a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta. An award-winning teacher, researcher, and writer, her research interests include the relationship between cultural identities, landscapes,...

Dr. Daphna Joel is Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. Dr. Joel is a member of the School of Psychological Sciences and the Sagol School of Neuroscience. After having completed her PhD in Psychobiology at Tel Aviv University in 1998, Dr. Joel received the Alon Fellowship for Young Scientists and then joined Tel Aviv University’s faculty. Dr. Joel’s work focuses on the...

Groundbreaking neurobiologist, Dr. Gina Turrigiano heads up the Turrigiano Lab in Brandeis University’s Biology Department. Dr. Turrigiano’s work focuses on brain plasticity. Our conversation covered a wide range of topics, including the following:    How Dr. Turrigiano and her husband, electrophysiologist, Dr. Sasha Nelson, navigated the challenges involved in couples hiring at research instituti...

In our inaugural conversation, we had the opportunity to speak with  Alice Dreger, PhD.  Dr. Dreger is an historian and philosopher of science, a journalist, and an activist. One of those rare thinkers who draws her readers into complex and controversial topics as if they’re just hanging out, jawing over a couple of drinks, Dreger’s work makes people question the long held “scientific” doctrine. I...

The Life of Her Mind is dedicated to learning about how these women think — how they think about their careers, disciplines, and future. Each episode focuses on a single professional working in or around the sciences, with an eye toward uncovering what makes each individual’s contributions unique. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Alyssa Rhoden, Principal Scientist at Southwest Research Institute in...

Labroots is excited to announce the relaunch of The Life of Her Mind, a podcast series focusing on the lives, perspectives, career pathways, and research of women working across STEM fields. Stay up to date on the latest in science at Labroots.com.