火花的声音

STEM/STEAM Day: An open letter to my daughter and yours

While the pandemic has challenged the world in unprecedented ways this year, we still have much to celebrate around STEM/STEAM, which was honored by National STEM/STEAM Day 2020 this past Sunday. There are so many educators, organizations and companies committed to programs that encourage and enable students – our next generation of problem solvers – to explore the world of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

然而，我们仍然有工作要做。持续的研究表明，年轻女孩追求词干职业的兴趣令人不幸。Ensuring that STEM professionals serve as role models can be key to maintaining girls’ interest, particularly as they become older and interest tends to wane, according to research from organizations such as UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), youth leader Junior Achievement and Microsoft.

As chief medical officer of Spark Therapeutics, I am a female who has experienced the joy and satisfaction of a successful career in science. I am proud to be part of a diverse team united in our goal to break barriers for people and families affected by genetic disease. Now, more than ever, science needs our daughters. So, I am taking the time to remind my own daughter of what she需要知道to keep aflame the internal fire she has found for scientific endeavors and to not let it burn out! I share this in hopes others do the same!

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Dear Margot,

When you started at your new school, your teachers asked you to fill out a form to get to know you better. As your mother, I knew most of the answers (purple is your favorite color! Ice cream is your favorite food!). Yet, one question made me stop and think, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Today, you want to be a veterinarian, however through the years, this exciting and sometimes serious question will come up over and over, and you will likely explore many ideas as you work to find your passion and joyfully live your life.

I’ve even asked myself, “Do I want you to follow in my footsteps?” Part of me wants to tell you, “Only if you want to.” The other part of me wants to tell you about the feeling you will experience after telling a patient that, “The new treatment worked, your disease is being managed.”

Let me remind you, as you continue to grow (more quickly than I would like!) into the young woman you will ultimately be, Margot the field of STEM needs you more than ever. So, if a spark for scientific endeavor burns within you or should doubts about the STEM field cause these to smolder, let this lifelong physician scientist share with you the secrets to keeping the flame burning brightly:

• Feed your sense of wonder:Curiosity can be suppressed or enhanced by your environment. The greatest innovations in history, such as gene therapy, were developed because women dared and felt comfortable to ask, “What if?” Put yourself in creative and non-judgmental environments that will unlock, rejigger and unleash your continued sense of wonder and curiosity.

• Dream big:Realize that your dream role or job may not exist yet and that you could help discover it! Today, there are fascinating careers in science that were not available just a few decades ago. I love to listen to you and your friends talk about wonderful, well- known – and highly respected – professions such as researcher, nurse or physical therapist. But guess what? You also could be a vectorologist or genetic counselor, one of the top life science careers in most demand over the next decade. You, my dear daughter, could be the originator of a new type of career in STEM just waiting to be found.

• Celebrate small victories：虽然我说梦想大，但大科学突破可能需要很长时间。虽然当你到达一个时，但是当你到达一个时，我总是在小型胜利和奇迹中找到了快乐，就像在从细菌或患者细胞那样脱离溶液时看着DNA沉淀出来的速度。即使大型发现似乎超出了某些日子，这些小东西也保持了激烈的火花。

• 拥抱失败和坚持不懈：在科学中，失败可能意味着越一步更接近突破。它可能意味着绊倒，学习，重新审视或重新思考。总会有挫折，但在世界上没有其他领域是坚持不懈的奖励。当你击中墙壁时，考虑所有可能的解决方案，重新提出问题，通过不同的镜头查看它，大多数人都不放弃。

虽然我继续追逐我的梦想，但致力于令人兴奋的基因治疗领域，但总体女性在Stem劳动力中仍然受到尊重。充满爱，我恳求你，你的朋友和其他女孩打破这个周期。

With love,

Your mother

aka Dr. Gallia Levy, Chief Medical Officer, Spark Therapeutics