The underrepresentation of women in biotech development limits innovation. These gaps not only limit perspective but also stifle progress in addressing unmet needs in women's health. With a PhD from UPenn, I plan to become an executive director in a biotechnology consulting firm and build a biotechnology network that guides startups and established companies toward advancing women’s health diagnostics and therapeutics. Unbeknownst to many, novel drug development is extraordinarily expensive and time-consuming: the average cost to develop one new drug and bring it to market is $2.6 billion, with an average timeline of 10-15 years. Because of the extensive resources required to bolster a promising innovation into the market, scientific discovery alone is not enough to become a viable treatment. Unfortunately, many promising innovations fail within the drug development pipeline because the business aspects of biotech translations are overlooked. In my personal experience, I witnessed a promising ectopic pregnancy diagnostic pitch rejected by an investment panel because judges reasoned it had “limited market reach” despite its clear potential to aid hundreds of thousands of women. This experience solidified my mission to uplift promising discoveries addressing women's unmet needs through the biotechnology pipeline. To do this, I plan to leverage my experience at the Wistar Institute and UPenn’s Biotechnology group to work in case consulting and market outreach. I enrolled in Wistar’s innovation course to gain insight into translational pathways—spanning patent strategy, development pipelines, and commercialization. This information taught me which business aspects make a scientific discovery more enticing for investment. Through the biotech group, I became proficient in reviewing market value and understanding current unmet needs for stakeholders. With my certification of bioentrepreneurship, I established the soft skills to communicate objectives to company associates and can reframe a project’s perspective consider the patients’ needs. The culmination of these experiences enables me to develop a distinguished biotech consulting company. As an executive director, I plan to bolster companies serving women’s unmet needs. I will implement their promising innovations through an effective consulting process based on my experiences, demonstrating the best methods for success. I aim to begin small, starting in Philadelphia’s biotech industry to facilitate start-up companies translating their discovery and development. Once momentum is established, the company can expand to support start-ups to address women’s health across regions, extending to the Northeastern sector, then eventually across the country. This biotech company network will positively impact my community by driving lasting improvement in women’s health. I plan to partner with companies, academic institutions, and hospitals to reach the broader patient population and expand access to emerging therapies for those with limited treatment options. Intentional progress to identify, tackle, and elevate women’s health discoveries benefits all facets of society because women's well-being matters to all families and communities. The "Let's Build Together" Scholarship will be critical to achieve this goal. The funding will remove financial burdens during my training and redirect my focus towards driving equity-centered innovation. Thank you for your consideration.

Few understand the impact of negative labels more than those living with them. African Americans know about being categorized as lower in intelligence. Women are defined as bad in science. Thus, I have quite a dilemma as an African American young woman interested in cellular biology. As the first in my family to pursue higher education in STEM, I am committed to advancing immunotherapeutic development to better treat diseases. Throughout my academic journey, I navigated microaggressions and subtle biases. Facing them prompted me to create resources and join organizations uplifting young women of color. I plan to use my past experiences to empower the next generation of young women professionals to recognize prejudice for what it is- other people's opinion of them that does not represent their true potential. During my undergrad, I participated in Emory’s Matriculate Mentorship Program: a virtual platform where I advise low-income high school young women through the college application process. Each week, I organized meetings with my three students to craft personal statements, structure requests for letters of recommendation, and affirm their aspirations for higher education. Many times, my students voiced doubts about whether they belonged in college. Seeing myself in their self-doubt, I prioritized reminding them of their progress, reminding them of their potential, and sharing my college journey to uplift their confidence. I taught the skill of reflection: guiding them to recognize their talents, removed from negative labels. I am proud to announce that my students matriculated to Washington University, St.Louis, the University of Michigan, and Georgia State University. After the process, they all thanked me with words I hold dear: “Thank you for believing in me.” I wanted to continue supporting the younger generation of women in my graduate career. At the University of Pennsylvania, I am working on cellular therapies to reduce disease burdens. Within the classroom and the laboratory, few students look like me or share my background. With this disparity, I created an outreach initiative within the Penn Graduate Women in Science & Engineering (PGWISE) organization. I developed a strategy to promote STEM and introduce graduate education across the demographics of young women. For the K-12 audience, I’m collaborating with university programs to include PGWISE members as student mentors in various STEM topics- from computer science to biomedical engineering- through an original curriculum. ​For instance, I served as a guest lecturer for Penn Arts and Sciences High School Programs. I taught an original lesson introducing immunology principles and showcasing pioneering immunotherapeutics. I designed the lesson to be interactive, pushing the students to apply past scientific lessons into the cellular world of immunology. Students were engaged and expressed gratitude for learning about novel immunotherapies. ​For undergraduate women, I developed a graduate‑focused programming series where PGWISE members from diverse STEM fields connect with students, encourage them to pursue STEM degrees, and introduce resources that support higher education. So far, I have hosted a graduate student panel in which six PGWISE members shared guidance on finding research labs and accessing the tools needed to succeed in graduate school. I designed the program to clarify the requirements for matriculation and to reinforce that every young woman has the potential to succeed beyond imposed labels. ​My career aspiration is to become a director in a biotechnology consulting firm, guiding startups toward success. I plan to create a brighter future for treatment options with advancing cellular therapies. During my journey, I will elevate future generations of young women scientists to accomplish this goal: to dismantle the illusion of incompetence and inadequacy of women of color pursuing STEM.

You are more than the label society defines you. Legacy means to continue carving the path those before us began and to leave behind the fruits of progress for those after. Legacy serves to bridge lessons between people, between communities, and between different fabrics of society. It uplifts people from the realms of hopelessness and inspires a person to pursue a brighter future. Raised in a low‑income, single‑parent household in Atlanta, I’ve seen the legacy the mother has established for me. Upon first glance, many assumed our future is fixed: an African American family set to remain in the poorer community for generations. Yet, despite these beliefs, my mother worked relentlessly to offer me a childhood, an education, and a brighter future. Through her endeavors, her exhaustion, and her struggles, I did the unexpected and attended university. I defied the statistics as a proud graduate from Emory University, and now I am pursuing my doctoral degree to advance pioneering medical therapies. Thanks to my mother, I am free from the boxes set since the beginning. I will take her love forward and establish a legacy using my talents to create a better future in medicine. In the home, my mother raised me with love and determination, but financial strain shaped our lives. Despite this, she instilled the importance of academic success. Education was the avenue my mother directed, and at school, I learned early to build supportive networks that extended beyond what was possible at home. Among all my subjects, cellular biology captivated me and ultimately set me on the path toward a scientific career. My academic journey consisted of exploring various diseases in hopes of seeking a potential theraputic avenue. At Emory University, I conducted research on the metastatic behavior of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) to restrict it. At Columbia University Irving Medical Center, I investigated immune activation pathways for a therapeutic target against systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Finally, at the University of Pennsylvania, I explored immune cell bioengineering to enhance HIV cure therapies. At each step, I learned of unmet needs, persistent disease conditions, and thought, “What can I do to advance the status quo?” From the seed my mother planted, my curiosity sprouted into a commitment to advancing medical treatments for the many disease gaps- cancer, autoimmunity, and infectious disease. Resolved to bring change, I embarked to learn the intricacies of pioneering biotechnology innovation. Now at UPenn, I work in the lab developing an advanced cellular therapy that enhances precision, sustained efficacy, and reduced treatment-related burden. To better understand how to bridge these innovations to patients, I enrolled in Wistar’s innovation course to gain insight into translational pathways—spanning patent strategy, development pipelines, and commercialization. If successful, cellular therapeutics could serve as new treatment options when conventional protocols fall short. My time is divided between cellular investigation and projects that bridge discoveries into real-world applications. The work is demanding yet fulfilling, knowing each effort contributes to something greater. In my endeavors, I continue to carve the path to improve the status quo for future generations. I dream of a world of advanced therapies to reshape the treatment dogma for various disease contexts, and I plan to keep implementing my talents to make that a reality. As I move forward, I reflect on my mother, as her work uplifted me beyond our neighborhood to a life I never would have imagined. I plan use my talents to finish what she started, and to uplift others to exceed beyond society’s labels.