GSK PhD student Brianna Naizir shares how MSK empowers female scientists.
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It’s been really great to have this community of like-minded women in science who come together and really support and empower one another.
My name is Brianna Naizir, and I am in the immunology department at MSK.
I knew I wanted to pursue science as a career when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer — it was a type that can’t be treated by standard hormone therapies. I became really interested in understanding how novel therapies are developed for these hard-to-treat cancer types.
Currently, I’m working on understanding how a specific type of T cells called CD4 T cells are differentiated in the context of infection and cancer. Specifically, we’re looking at melanoma, but this could have much more broad applications as well.
The Kravis WiSE fellowship will be invaluable to the completion of my project and helping me in my PhD career because it will provide me with the financial independence that I need to really tackle the very challenging questions that I’m currently going after in my field.
This recognition will really support me in my future of working toward making science a more inclusive space.
Being a woman in science at MSK has been incredibly empowering. I really do believe that scientific excellence benefits from a diversity of perspective.
Science comes with hurdles every single day. It’s not always easy but finding the drive within you and a purpose for doing your work really has propelled me to keep going.
