Women

Laila Shabir ’10 speaks with Washington Post reporters Jonathan Lee and Marlena Sloss about how the subtle cultural reinforcement of gender roles inspired her to found Girls Make Games, a summer camp where girls and nonbinary children learn the basics of video game development. “It makes sense that kids are attracted to video games because everything that games represent, kids are into,” Shabir said. “If we want to reach people, if we want to make a difference, I think video games have a massive societal influence and we should be tapping into that collectively. Not just on an individual level but as a society and as an employer.”

Prof. Ariel Furst, and alumna Claire Beskin and Loewen Cavill were named the winners of the first annual MIT Female Founders Pitch, reports Stephanie MacConnell for Forbes. Furst’s company, Pharmor, has developed an inexpensive protective coating that allows microbes to be produced and transported in non-ideal conditions. Beskin’s company, Empallo, uses machine learning to unlock information on siloed patient data. And Cavill’s company, AuraBlue, has developed a wearable device that can predict hot flashes and enable a cooling pad to counteract the change in body temperature in menopausal women.

Ifueko Igbinedion PhD ’22, Marlyse Reeves PhD ’22 and Wharton alumni Isoken Igbinedion, and Simone Kendle founded Parfait, a company that uses technology to more efficiently design and create wigs, reports Ron Miller for TechCrunch. “The four women have built a solution that lets women simply choose a wig and answer a series of questions to come up with the final design,” explains Miller. “They have mixed this with machine learning to help with sizing and proper tinting, while bringing in human stylists to make the final decisions when needed.”

Shirley Ann Jackson ’68, PhD ’73, the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is retiring, reports Kendall Ross for ABC News. “It’s about being able to walk so you can carry someone else,” says Jackson. “The most influential the positions I’ve had and the more powerful they’ve become, the more I’ve been able to help people develop open doors." 

India New England News speaks with MIT MBA alumna Dipali Trivedi about her work as a co-founder and mentor, as well as the importance of encouraging women to pursue leadership roles in the companies they have founded. “I enjoy bringing innovation to a complex domain with the help of next generation technology,” says Trivedi. “Seeing your idea materialized and used by thousands of people is an amazing experience, I enjoy solving challenges of launching new venture ground-up.”

The Boston Globe highlights Robert Buderi’s new book, “Where Futures Converge: Kendall Square and the Making of a Global Innovation Hub.” Buderi features the Future Founders Initiative, an effort by Prof. Sangeeta Bhatia, President Emerita Susan Hockfield and Prof. Emerita Nancy Hopkins aimed at increasing female entrepreneurship. 

Professor Linda Griffith speaks with Radio Boston host Tiziana Dearing about her research on endometriosis. The dream is “that we get diagnosis at the start, and you get your therapy at the start, and you don’t even develop the disease,” says Griffith.

Science World reporter Hailee Romain spotlights Prof. Anne White, head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and her research on nuclear fusion in a piece highlighting the groundbreaking contributions of women in science. White believes “nuclear fusion has the potential to become a revolutionary energy source and is developing ways to make that possible,” writes Romain.

MSNBC reporter Selena Rezvani spotlights a study by Prof. Danielle Li and her colleagues, which found that women aren’t seen as having as much leadership potential as men despite having higher and more consistent performance ratings. Li and her colleagues found “women are 14 percent less likely to be promoted year after year, compared to men,” writes Rezvani. 

Astrophysicist Kelly Korreck will be honored at The Smithsonian during Women’s History Month as they commemorate women who have excelled in STEM fields, reports Ashraf Khalil for the AP. “3-D printed statues will be displayed in the Smithsonian Gardens and in select museums in the Smithsonian network from March 5-27,” writes Khalil.

Forbes has named Raya Ani ’94, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala MCP PhD ’81, ’78, and former postdoc Shulamit Levenberg to their 50 Over 50 list, which highlights women from Europe, the Middle East and Asia who are leading the way, reports Maggie McGrath for Forbes. “Women around the world are proving that 50 and beyond is the new golden age,” writes McGrath.

STAT reporters Katie Palmer and Casey Ross spotlight how Prof. Regina Barzilay has developed an AI tool called Mirai that can identify early signs of breast cancer from mammograms. “Mirai’s predictions were rolled into a screening tool called Tempo, which resulted in earlier detection compared to a standard annual screening,” writes Palmer and Ross.

Prof. Regina Barzilay speaks with Good Morning America about her work developing a new AI tool that could “revolutionize early breast cancer detection” by identifying patients at high risk of developing the disease. “If this technology is used in a uniform way,” says Barzilay, “we can identify early who are high-risk patients and intervene.”

Washington Post reporter Steve Zeitchik spotlights Prof. Regina Barzilay and graduate student Adam Yala’s work developing a new AI system, called Mirai, that could transform how breast cancer is diagnosed, “an innovation that could seriously disrupt how we think about the disease.” Zeitchik writes: “Mirai could transform how mammograms are used, open up a whole new world of testing and prevention, allow patients to avoid aggressive treatments and even save the lives of countless people who get breast cancer.”

Prof. Emerita Nancy Hopkins, who has made “significant strides in molecular biology and a tireless advocate for gender equity in science,” has been named the recipient of STAT’s 2021 Biomedical Innovation Award, reports Isabella Cueto for STAT. “It’s very easy to forget how much progress there has been because we haven’t arrived where we’d like to be,” said Hopkins at the 2021 STAT Summit, where she was honored. “So we see the problems that still lie ahead. But you periodically have to pause and say, ‘Oh, my gosh, look how far we came.’”