In recognition of International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Young Nam Lee, Head of Medical Department shares why she is proud to be one of the women in science and messages for future generations of scientists. 

Q. Reason for choosing career in STEM

Before Celltrion Healthcare, I was a scientist for 12 years. I worked in a laboratory in cells, culture systems and animal models. After more than a decade of being a scientist, I felt that there was a limitation, based on the distance from reality that we had in the laboratory. I wanted to find work in the real world, where we could focus more on the patients.

Q. Challenges as a woman in STEM

I think as a female career woman in healthcare systems, one of the difficulties that I found, especially as I go (sort of) up in the company ranking, is what's often referred to as ‘imposter syndrome’. This is where you feel that you don’t have the proper credentials or you feel like you can’t do the job that was given to you because you don’t have enough experience, for example. This is actually much more common in women than in men but I think my role models within this industry – many outstanding women themselves talk about how they experience this but they overcome it by setting goals and succeeding in their own personal goals. So I think that’s what I aimed to do as well in this company and hoped to do my best and hoped that it is helpful to not only the company but for the patients as well.

Q. Proudest moments working in STEM

As the medical director at Celltrion Healthcare I think I feel most proud of our work as the medical team when we present our data at conferences or publish in scientific journals. This is our way of adding important clinical data to the medical world, which we hope can be used by physicians to change or optimize the treatment of their patient especially with our product. We hope that these data can result in improved quality of life for the patients.

Q. Advice for future generations 

I think after education or training in STEM, it’s really important for you to look outside of academia. Feel free to search out any connections who might be will be willing to mentor you or to talk to you about their experiences over coffee, which I think from that you can get an idea of what kind of roles there are in areas outside of school and lab. There are so many options available to you with a degree in STEM, I think it’s really important to find what you love.