For the AWIS Summer Of Science this week, they’re spotlighting Angela Matope, an actuarial analyst working in the insurance industry. Driven by a curiosity about how data can be used to solve real-world problems, Angela built a career helping organizations better understand risk, prepare for uncertainty, and make informed decisions about the future. Read her spotlight to learn how she combined a passion for mathematics and problem-solving into a career helping others plan for what comes next.

Meena Narayanan, PhD, is a Principal Scientist in CMC/Process Analytics at Genentech a member of the Roche Group. Her AWIS membership has given her opportunities to meet like minded professionals, and give back to the scientific community.

Dr. Green developed a novel cancer-killing technology, Laser-Activated NanoTherapy (LANT), that is of high clinical relevance in the field of oncology. LANT directly addresses the urgent yet unmet global need for more effective treatment options for millions of people with difficult-to-treat cancers. LANT is designed as a minimally invasive, curative treatment for solid tumors that induces site-specific (not cell type-specific) cellular death and tumor regression precisely at the site of laser activation. The peer-reviewed, preclinical in vivo LANT data showed complete tumor regression with clear tumor margins and healed skin in just 15 days after a single, 10-minute treatment without surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or observed side effects. Because its mechanism of action is based on physics instead of biology, LANT is a platform therapy designed to have clinical indications for a variety of difficult-to-treat solid tumors, such as brain, pancreatic, breast, prostate, and head and neck cancers. Dr. Green founded the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation, a cancer nonprofit, to keep the technology she developed affordable for all. The Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation is on a mission to change the way cancer is treated and reduce cancer patient suffering by providing a treatment that is accessible, affordable, and effective. Limited by funding, not technological advancements, the Ora Lee Foundation is ready to move LANT beyond the laboratory and into humans with tax-deductible donations. When you support the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation, your donations will help ensure Dr. Green’s research comes to life by helping to fund human clinical trials, taking this tech from the lab to the living.

Neuroscientist Suzanne Corkin was born 89 years ago today. Taking over the HM case from Brenda Milner, she spent decades probing the boundaries of what the hippocampus does and does not do in memory consolidation, with fascinating results. Here is her story.

Originally from New Zealand, Niranjana Raghunathan has been working across the globe in Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) for the past 13 years. She has learned that keeping her team motivated leads to success.

In a year filled with challenges for women in science, AWIS supported members with grants, scholarships, learning opportunities, advocacy initiatives, a new career center, and more. Read all about it in the AWIS Annual Report.

The NCWIT Scorecard is a place you can find data on trends in the participation in computing in the U.S. over time by race and gender. NCWIT supplies these data visualizations for the computing community free of charge. Feel free to use these data in reports, presentations, proposals, and other research with the appropriate citation.

Empathy guides AWIS member Náguia De Medeiros to choose research that centers on people, not just data. Currently a PhD student at the University of Texas at El Paso, her research focuses on using technology to expand access to rehabilitation and improve mobility after stroke.

Interested in a career outside of academia? AWIS member Bushra Zaman speaks with science communicator Dr. Chloe Kirk about how to navigate different career options.

This session explores how microaffirmations – small, intentional acts of recognition, validation, and support – play a pivotal role in shaping students’ sense of belonging and mattering in computing education. Drawing on research from psychology, education, and computing, the session demonstrates how microaffirmations can enhance student engagement, cultivate inclusive and supportive learning environments, and improve both academic and psychosocial outcomes.