Amanda Robinson, PhD, MBA, MLS(ASCP)

I attribute much of my success to curiosity and a genuine love of learning. I have never been very good at leaving a question alone once it catches my attention. I want to understand how things work, why they work, and what might work better. That curiosity eventually grew into a passion for both research and teaching.

Mentoring STEM students at the University of Indianapolis was especially rewarding. I enjoyed helping students recognize their strengths, explore career paths they may not have considered, and become more confident in their abilities. Their enthusiasm was also infectious and often reminded me why I was drawn to science in the first place!

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided that if the world was going to grind to a halt, I might as well use the time productively and pursue my PhD. I completed the program in three years while continuing to work full-time. It was demanding, occasionally absurd, and one of the best decisions I have made. It allowed me to deepen my expertise and focus my career more deliberately on clinical and translational research.

The best career advice I have received came from Iliza Shlesinger’s book Girl Logic: “Just because they don’t see it in you doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

That line stayed with me because careers are not always shaped by people immediately recognizing your potential. Sometimes you have to keep building, learning, and moving forward before others understand what you are capable of. It reminded me not to let someone else’s limited view of me become my own. Thanks, Iliza!

The biggest thing that held me back was self-doubt. I spent far too much time assuming that the people I admired were somehow more capable, more confident, or simply made of different material. The older I have gotten, the more I have realized that they are normal people too. They may have taken a different path or approached things differently, but that does not mean the same goal is out of reach.

My advice to young women entering the field is to go for it before you feel completely ready. Do not wait for someone else to confirm that you belong there. Walk into the room knowing, “I can do this too.” Your path may not look like anyone else’s, but it is still yours to pursue. I wish someone had told me that earlier. It would have saved me a great deal of unnecessary mental anguish.

One of the biggest challenges in clinical research is the sheer weight of the regulatory and administrative process. Oversight is essential, but the system can become so complicated that promising discoveries spend years working their way from the laboratory to the patients who could benefit from them.

Women’s healthcare is another major challenge. Too many conditions affecting women have been understudied, underfunded, or dismissed for far too long, and patients are still living with the consequences.

The greatest opportunity in translational science is better collaboration. Researchers, clinicians, laboratory scientists, regulators, and industry teams often work in separate worlds, even when they are trying to solve the same problem. Bringing those groups together earlier could reduce unnecessary delays, improve clinical trial design, and help effective innovations reach patients faster without sacrificing scientific rigor or patient safety.

I value curiosity, kindness, and humor most. Curiosity keeps me asking questions. Kindness keeps me grounded and appreciative. Humor keeps me from becoming an actual mad scientist.