Her Story
About Triparna
I always knew I wanted to be a cancer researcher. I knew that when I was 11 years old. I was reading about Marie Curie and her discoveries - she's a Nobel Prize winner in both physics and chemistry, and I'm very drawn to powerful women. Her journey, her courage, especially her contribution to science at a time where science was being led by men, but really her journey as a woman, and not just her brilliance, but also her courage to be able to lead and discover and transform science seamlessly and powerfully - I recognized something in that path, and it completely resonated with me, even at 11. So I knew I wanted to be a researcher. The cancer research part came later on, because I lost family members to cancer. I did my education back in India - I did my master's in genetics back in India, and I'm a gold medalist. Then I did my PhD back in India in cancer biology, where I studied how cancer spreads in the body from a primary site to distant organs. In the United States, I study small cell lung cancer. My typical day involves my role as a researcher, where I do a lot of reading myself, coming up with new project ideas for my team. I'm very passionate about mentorship, so I mentor a lot of junior investigators, assistant professors, associate professors, postdoctoral trainees, and graduate students. As associate director for research, I also shape what the research for my division looks like - that's a lot of strategy and leadership. I'm also the board member for the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and in that role I have the privilege and the responsibility of helping shape the global agenda for lung cancer research. Service is my true north.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Triparna
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just to feel worthy. I think women struggle with that a lot. They feel like they have to kind of shrink themselves to fit. I don't think that's the case anymore. I think women just need to feel worthy of all that they think they can achieve their dreams. So they just need to trust themselves, and just to be authentic. Just own themselves and embrace - I think they just need to be authentic. And ask for help. Have a very, very good community of mentors, of peers. And just be unapologetically herself, and just feel worthy. Please have a mentorship community very early on, and it's not just mentors who are your direct mentors at work, or your training, or your PhD or postdoc mentors - your mentors can be your friends, your peers, because building a community, your people are your strength. Having a community is your ultimate strength.
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