Gloria Eyong Ayuk

I would attribute my success to two things. Firstly, my work ethic, because I know I personally am the person that puts more pressure on myself to achieve my goals. But the primary factor would be my support system, which is my mom. She's always there for me, especially when I'm in a depressed state - because as I mentioned, research doesn't always go the way you want it to go. She'll always be there to remind me that every win is important. So when I do achieve something, she will celebrate it for me, and that gives me more energy to keep moving forward. Even when I'm the first person to doubt myself or feel discouraged, she's there to lift me up and help me see the value in what I'm accomplishing.

The best career advice I've received is to live in the present and try not to overthink about what will happen in the future. In research, it's so easy to focus on wanting immediate results, but research is very unpredictable. You may put in hundreds or thousands of hours of work and not come out with anything tangible at the end. But the truth is, nothing is really insignificant. Every minute or every second you put into doing your work is actually very valuable. So the key is to try to live in the present and celebrate every little win you have along the way, rather than constantly worrying about future outcomes that you can't control.

My advice to young women entering this industry is simple: you can do whatever you put your mind to do. You just have to work through it. Most of the time, we sit down and look at an opportunity and think, 'I don't think I'll be able to do it.' But the worst thing that can happen is hearing 'no' - and that's not the end of the world. There is nothing like failure when you know you've put effort into it. So if you think you can do something, or if you want to do it, just do it. You never know what will happen. Don't let fear of failure prevent you from trying, because every experience, whether it works out or not, teaches you something valuable and helps you grow.

The biggest challenge I face right now, which is probably applicable to anyone in my position, is that I'm here as an international student. The opportunities open to me right now with research, funding, and everything are really extremely limited. To get any opportunity, I really need to put in the effort and work a lot harder than others might have to. That would be my biggest limitation right now in my career in this country. Despite these challenges, I remain optimistic about the field of biomedical research and the opportunities it presents to improve lives through scientific innovation and advance our understanding of important health issues.

The values most important to me in my work and personal life are consistency and organization. Being consistent is very important because research requires sustained effort over long periods of time. And organization is critical because so much happens at the same time in research - if you mess up once, it can mess up everything else. So staying consistent in my efforts and staying organized in how I approach my work are the two things I believe are most essential for success. These values help me maintain the discipline and attention to detail needed to navigate the complexities of scientific research while also managing my personal responsibilities.