Yvonne PhD

I received some pretty interesting advice early on when I was in high school learning at a PhD level. One person told me, 'Don't ever be afraid of finding out about something. Don't ever let people make you feel as though you don't know, because chances are, they don't either. And if you don't know, then you can find out.' Another person said something that really stuck with me - I had said, 'Oh, I'm not a chemist,' and he replied, 'That's not true. Any woman who cooks is a chemist.' I also learned very early that 'no' means almost nothing to me, except when it comes to people's personal space. But when it comes to discovery, if I get a no answer from someone about something, I just move on to the next person and get another answer, because chances are you'll get another answer. I'm not afraid of hearing no. People get crushed when they hear no - 'you can't do this' or 'that won't work' - but I think it's about being strong in your own ideas, being able to discuss them, to find out why they said no and whether or not it makes sense. But if you think you have a very valid idea, go for it.

Focus. You've got to work, and that doesn't mean just working long hours, but be very interested in it. Because interest drives you - it drives me, it drives a number of my colleagues. People who can focus on that interest will come up with something, and be able to take some guidance about the way to go and what to do. Be curious.

In terms of challenges, I'm kind of past that point. It's a lot of work, which isn't a bad thing - it just means the business needs to hire more people to get this work done. I've found that in business, if you can reach the challenge that they give you, you get no help. It's only when you start to fail that they will find help for you. As for opportunities, you can't go wrong with life sciences, because people want to live well, they want to live comfortably, they want their health to be maintained. There's always room for people who can do that sort of thing. Medicine is one of the top fields out there right now. AI is going to take over quite a number of fields, but not medicine completely, not science. It's discovery, and AI can make discovery a lot faster, but it will need people to put it on a path. AI can be used to determine what kind of issues someone has and to cobble together the types of tests that are needed, but for breakthrough science, you need thinking mechanisms to do that, and I'm not sure that AI can do that just yet.

Honesty, trust, and loyalty are most important to me. Honesty means truth, and truth can be backed up with facts. I'm a scientist, so I don't go very much on the emotional truth of anything - I like hard facts. If you're going to argue a point, make sure that you have a fact that is substantiated. Not 'my friend did this' - give me the clinical data, the political data, the metrics. I'm not one of those touchy-feely types. I like honest facts, honest truths, and I want to know where I can get that information. Loyalty means your friends are family, and you protect them, but you do tell them truths if you see them wavering or faltering. I admire people who can tell me, 'Yvonne, that's not quite right,' and then tell me what's wrong. I like people who can take constructive criticism and who can criticize constructively. As far as trust, I do trust but verify - that's just the nature of my scientific background. It's important in everyday life. If you're going to improve as a person, as a mom, as a worker, you can't always hear false praise. You need to have a trustworthy team or friend who will tell you straight up what's going on. I always tell people, I don't take hints very well - don't give me hints, just tell me what's going on, what's on your mind.