Stories of STEM: Stephanie Bryant

Stephanie Bryant is a graduate student in the toxicology department here at UK. She credits her research as a guiding principle in her career, “From regeneration, to stem cells, to cancer biology is how I got here; I always found stem cell biology really fascinating in that they contribute to so many different processes biologically, from development, to mis-regulation in cancers, to regeneration in some models that I have worked on previously. They are such a fascinating topic to work on.” Currently, she researches cancer biology, “Our projects tend to work on how intestinal hormones can contribute to colon cancer. I investigate what increases these intestinal hormones and how treatments can be developed to hopefully mitigate their effects on colon cancer. Stephanie described how she had to work hard as a woman in STEM, “Aside from my interest in the field, as a woman you have to prove yourself in fields like this, and I really wanted to do that; to prove I was able to do it. I came from an educational background that wasn’t necessarily in the molecular or cancer biology field, I came from an ecological and evolutionary background, and so even as I first began this career path I wasn’t as prepared as I could have been, but I wanted to prove I could do it. Being a woman in the field and with my educational background I wanted to show that with enough hard work I could do it anyway. Trying to prove yourself against the odds and against perceptions is why I stuck with it, even though I often considered picking another field, I would come back to the fact that I could do it, even if I had to work harder.” She finds it incredibly important to integrate diversity in STEM, “The importance of women, or really any racial or ethnic diversity, in the field comes from the fact that people from different backgrounds and experiences often bring different perspectives and unique approaches to solving problems. There are a lot of problems to be solved in science, medicine, and engineering, and there always will be. By not promoting diversity there is a lot of untapped potential in problem solving. Collaboration from different people is what will drive science forward; having more women in the field and having more diversity in general brings people together and brings more strength to problem solving.” Her advice for women pursuing STEM is to radiate confidence, “Confidence is really important, knowing that you might have to work harder, and not avoiding a field you are passionate about because you will have to work harder at it, and having the confidence to know that if you work hard enough you can do it. It’s not necessarily about how smart you are, but it is how hard you work.” She believes her position in STEM is many things among being a scientist, “Being a woman in STEM is different than being a man in STEM in that there are more layers. As a man in STEM you can be a scientist, you can be a doctor. But for a woman such as myself, in addition to working towards being a scientist or professor or wherever I end up, I also have to think about what my career path says to other women, young girls in particular. I have an extra responsibility to reach out to young women and encourage them to work hard and succeed in science, and to let them know there is a place for them in science. Women in STEM, in general, have that extra role in addition to all their other responsibilities.” Stephanie advises young women to advocate for themselves, “You have to be able to promote for yourself, to advocate for yourself, talk about your successes and what you bring to the table, wherever you may go.”