Dr. misty jenkins
Misty Jenkins is a descendent of the Gunditjmara nation of western Victoria, and a trailblazer in the world of science. She is an immunologist specialised in Cancer Research
She is currently the head of an immunology research team at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. She’s the first Indigenous Australian to attend Oxford and Cambridge Universities as a postdoctoral fellow. In addition, she was the first person in her family to go to university, leaving her home in Ballarat to study at the University of Melbourne.
Her focus is on manipulating the human immune system to make it fight cancer. Dr Jenkins and her team are genetically changing the disease-fighting white blood cells of our immune system, killer T-cells, to help them recognise and attack cancer cells in the brain.
Dr Jenkins has become an advocate for women in science, and for increasing the participation of Indigenous Australians in higher education, and in the world of science. She is a strong promoter of STEM literacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
Quotes
"It is essential to have an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural lens applied to Western Science, just like it is important to have others with diverse backgrounds and genders in senior positions in our workplaces"
“This breadth and depth of diversity is what is going to drive innovation.”
“By being visible, you are showing students that STEM is a viable career and that you can discover things that have never been discovered before,”
Sources
https://australiascience.tv/indigenous-stem-award-winners-become-role-models-for-communities/
https://metrotunnel.vic.gov.au/about-the-project/creative-program/parkville-station/parkville-storytelling-project/dr-misty-jenkins