{"id":2874,"date":"2019-02-11T14:59:44","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T04:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/?post_type=wimr_news&p=2874"},"modified":"2024-09-30T18:26:39","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T08:26:39","slug":"supporting-our-future-research-leaders-international-day-of-women-and-girls-in-science","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/news\/supporting-our-future-research-leaders-international-day-of-women-and-girls-in-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting our future research leaders | International Day of Women and Girls in Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

To mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February), we spoke with Dr Monica Miranda Saksena, Group Leader of our Herpes Neuropathogenesis Research Group and WIMR Honours Coordinator about her experiences in research, and as a mentor for young people considering a career in science.<\/p>\n

\"Monica-Saksena-and-team.JPG\"
\nGrowing up in South America, Dr Saksena developed an interest in treating and preventing infectious diseases, particularly the herpes simplex virus (HSV-1).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had an interest in medicine and infectious diseases,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in Colombia, where there is a high incidence of infectious diseases, like malaria, dengue and hepatitis A.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, seeing how the herpes simplex virus affected people with low immunity, such as people on chemotherapy, and older individuals really influenced me to research the herpes virus.\u201d<\/p>\n

In many healthy adults, HSV-1 may cause no or mild symptoms such as cold sores. However, in at-risk populations, the virus can cause severe complications.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis can give the impression that it\u2019s not a serious virus. But, that\u2019s not always the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cHSV-1 is really common \u2013 World Health Organization estimates that 3.7 billion people worldwide \u2013approximately 67 percent of the world\u2019s population \u2013 are infected with HSV-1,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHSV-1 is the leading cause of infectious blindness and endemic encephalitis worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe virus is extremely contagious, and there is currently no cure or vaccines available, so research is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

HSV-1 infects and spreads in the peripheral nervous system. Dr Saksena and her team aim to understand how the virus travels and exits sensory nerves to spread to the skin or mucosa, causing recurrent herpes infections.<\/p>\n

As a research group leader and an honours coordinator, Dr Saksena takes many students under her wing, and helps them develop skills for research and, more broadly, a career in science.<\/p>\n

\u201cI train my students, particularly my honours students, to think scientifically,\u201d Dr Saksena said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI help them develop fundamental skills in research, like the techniques needed to take on a research project, organisational and presentation skills, and how to write scientific papers and theses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also help them understand where they want their career to go. While it\u2019s fantastic that they\u2019re getting involved with herpes research, it\u2019s far from the only option for them moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch can build a solid foundation of skills, such as critical thinking and communication, that can be applied in a lot of ways. There are a lot of opportunities in science, and I want our students to have the greatest chance of entering a field they feel interested so they are more likely to pursue their goals and succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back, Dr Saksena noted that she has mentored far more women than men \u2013 purely by happenstance.<\/p>\n

\u201cScience is becoming a lot more balanced, and I\u2019m seeing that in our cohorts of honours students. It just so happens that, in the past few years, I\u2019ve had more women than men joining our lab\u201d she said.
\n\u201cIt is still important to provide information and opportunities for young women in schools to encourage them to pursue a career in science or STEM related fields.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Saksena credits having a supportive environment as one reason she has been able to stay in science, even after becoming a mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been very lucky. I fell into the right lab, with the right mentor,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the flexibility that I\u2019ve been granted in science, it would be difficult to juggle being a mum and full-time work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m able to work from home or on the weekends so I don\u2019t miss out on important events with my kids. It\u2019s been a really positive experience for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Saksena highlights the opportunities that come with science to a young audience. Once a month, she meets with Year 11 and 12 students at her daughter\u2019s school to help them understand what pursuing a career in science is like.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to help to give them a realistic idea of what working in a lab is like, what subjects they should choose in their senior years, and where they can go after studying science,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dr\u00a0Saksena said mentoring young people is one of the highlights of her career, and that she enjoys encouraging the future generation of researchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy to support and mentor school, undergraduate and post-graduate students and give them a taste of the wonderful scientific environment that I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cScience isn\u2019t for everyone, but it\u2019s encouraging to see so many young people engaging in science, and getting curious about what they can do in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February), we spoke with Dr Monica Miranda Saksena, Group Leader of our Herpes Neuropathogenesis Research Group and WIMR Honours Coordinator about her experiences in research, and as a mentor for young people considering a career in science. Growing up in South America, Dr Saksena […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2875,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[19],"class_list":["post-2874","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}