Stories of STEM: Dr. Esther Dupont-Versteegden

Dr. Dupont-Versteegden is originally from the Netherlands, where she obtained a master’s degree in movement sciences. As a child, she enjoyed sports and was really interested in how muscles worked. She was interested in how muscles moved and the role the nervous system played in their coordination. She came to the US and obtained a PhD in physiology. She did research on neuromuscular diseases and studied mouse models that had muscular dystrophy. Her current research interest is in muscle movement and the ability of muscle recovery based on age. She believes diversity should be embraced in all fields, “I feel that everybody of all sexes, all races, of all the diversity, can learn from one and other and you only do that when you are in close proximity to each other and when you seek out those opportunities.” She also believes mentorship can be very important for young adults, “Seek out somebody that has the same issues so you can talk to them about those things. I do think for women of color in the STEM field it is hard to find those role models. That’s one of the reasons that it’s important we get diversity into the field, so that our younger people have role models that they can look up to.” She advises students to find a career they are passionate about, “You are going to be working in a particular field for a long, long time. Much longer than you go to school, you will be working in that field, so you have to love it… That’s not just true for the STEM fields; its true for all fields. I think if you are not passionate about the STEM field it’s going to be hard.”