Girlstart’s Women in STEM weekly series highlights various women who are making a difference in STEM. Be inspired as these incredible women describe how they became interested in their field, provide insight into a day in the life, and share learnings from their experiences.

Dr. Bhagyashree Birla
Genomics Applications Scientist @ QIAGEN

Bhagyashree is joining Girlstart to encourage more girls to study STEM. Now that she is in a position in her career to be able to lead by example, she wants to share her story in the hopes of inspiring more young girls to pursue STEM fields.

What is your favorite memory from volunteering with Girlstart?
I had volunteered at the Girlstart Summer camp and explained some concepts of genetics to middle school girls through a fun story and group activity. It was fantastic to see girls getting involved in the discussion and answering many of the questions correctly!

Do you have any words of encouragement for girls that may want to pursue STEM?
I would advise young girls to find a subject that piques their interest and find opportunities to learn more about it, including college courses that they can take later on and the various jobs available in that field. Do not let anyone tell you that you are not good enough or there are less opportunities for women in STEM. If you are confident that you are good at what you do, no one can stop you from achieving your dreams.

Was there anyone specific in your life that encouraged your career in STEM?
My parents always encouraged me to find my interests and pursue a field that was different from the traditional Doctor or Engineer path that were common in India when I was growing up. It was during high school that we had a teacher who was a recent Masters graduate in Biotechnology. It was a very nascent field at the time, but she displayed deep knowledge of the subject and explained the concepts quite clearly. She talked about new discoveries like cloning and genetic engineering excitedly, which piqued my interest in these technologies greatly, and led me to decide that I wanted to pursue the applied biological sciences for a career.

Can you describe a little bit of what you do and some of your favorite things about it?
Genomics is the study of whole genomes of organisms, and incorporates elements from genetics. It is an interdisciplinary field that uses a combination of DNA sequencing methods, and bioinformatics to sequence, assemble, and analyze the data to understand the structure and function of genomes.

I got interested in this field during the latter part of my Ph.D. studies and decided to pursue it as my career. I now work as an Application Scientist who helps academic researchers and scientists at biopharma companies design their next-generation sequencing experiments that helps them achieve their research goals successfully. It’s very exciting to be part of a field that has evolved over just the last decade or two and continues to advance every day. There is always something new to learn every day and new technologies that are launched which keeps the spark alive and prevents my work from becoming monotonous.

Why do you think confidence in STEM is important for girls?
Women are still under-represented in many of the STEM fields. It is hard to avoid negative remarks from extended family or friends who are not aware of the career opportunities in these fields. It is extremely important that girls have confidence in themselves and their passion in STEM so that they don’t lose focus from their professional and life goals.

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