LSIPR 50 2017: Audrey Goddard—Science is for girls too

“Nothing in life is to be feared—it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less,” physicist and chemist Marie Curie famously said.

Curie’s pioneering work included the discovery of radium and polonium, contributions to the fight against cancer, and her development of the use of X-rays in surgery, which saved countless lives during World War 1.

She is also one of the best-known female scientists to have graced the planet, being the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and the first person to win twice.

Women are continuing to make great strides in scientific research, and someone who fits into this category is Audrey Goddard, vice president of research and development (R&D) at microbial genomics company uBiome.

She is also a prolific owner of patents—more than 500 in her previous roles, the first of which was at biotechnology company Genentech.

Goddard held many roles in her time at Genentech, which she joined in 1993. She first worked as a scientist, then as medical director and her final role at the company was as associate director of companion diagnostics.

She left Genentech in 2006 to work as senior director of product development at Genomic Health, and from 2014 to 2016 was vice president of R&D at the company.

“I had wonderful opportunities provided to me, in many areas that I think that have combined to make me successful where I am today,” she explains.

“I had absolutely wonderful opportunities to do great science. I have had support in developing skills in the area of people management, project management and leadership.

“There was also a lot of investment at both companies, in my development both as a scientist and as a good leader within the firm.”

Goddard cites the launch of uBiome’s SmartGut clinical test as one of her achievements at the company so far. SmartGut uses advanced DNA sequencing technology to identify microorganisms in the gut.

The power of education

In the US, the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) aims to bring organisations together to inform and encourage girls to pursue careers in the STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

In September last year, the NGCP published the statistics of a report conducted by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The report, called “NSF, Science & Engineering Indicators, 2016”, found that women were still underrepresented in the science and engineering workforce, albeit they were underrepresented to a “lesser degree” than in the past.

In the US, the study said, female scientists and engineers are concentrated in different occupations than men.

There is a relatively high number of women working in the social sciences (62% of the total) and biological, agricultural, and environmental life sciences (48%), but relatively low representation in engineering (15%) and computer and mathematical sciences (25%).

Are enough women working in the life sciences?

“Women and men are present in our world in roughly equal proportions and until we see equal proportions in life sciences, my answer would have to be ‘no’,” Goddard replies.

“I’m a great believer in recruiting girls into STEM areas as early as possible in their education and I think until we have equal representation, we have to be honest with ourselves that we need to recruit more women into the sciences, engineering and mathematics.”

Goddard became interested in science thanks to her secondary school chemistry teacher, who “opened her eyes” to chemistry and biochemistry.

She studied for her BSc in biochemistry at Canada-based McMaster University and achieved her PhD in medical biophysics from the University of Toronto in 1989.

Goddard cites her undergraduate senior advisor, PhD supervisor and PhD co-supervisor as mentors whose “friendship, support, mentorship and confidence in me were important contributions to my success”.

As for how she would go about recruiting more women into the life sciences industry, Goddard believes education “starts early”.

“We need to engage all our children when they’re young and open their eyes to the possibility of different career options for them—this applies to boys as well as girls. It’s really important that we make sure that we are giving them the opportunities through their education and their extracurricular activities,” she explains.

This support needs to be continued “all the way through the education process”, she says.

Addressing her experience of the gender gap, Goddard mentions a research article called “The Academic Advantage: Gender Disparities in Patenting”, published on open-access scientific journal PLOS One.

“Patenting by women remains lower than would be predicted given our representation in STEM fields, and lower than would be predicted by our authorship of publications,” she says.

“According to the data, academia may be more conducive for female patenting than corporate or government organisations.

“My experience has been that, at least in the biotechnology field, patenting by women is encouraged and supported, as is evidenced by my approximately 622 patients,” she adds.

Where do we go from here?

While the gender gap may be prevalent for people working in STEM fields, Goddard gives sound advice for any women hoping to enter her field.

“First and foremost, always believe in yourself, follow your passions, and take advantage of the opportunities that are available: to read, study, and not be afraid to step outside of one’s comfort zone and try new things,” she says.

“One of the things I have benefited from in my own career is to have the courage to make big changes, and to try new lines of research, new roles within the company, and to step up and not let myself hold me back, to really take advantage of the opportunities that are offered.

“There are a lot of opportunities in the life sciences; I hope they are open equally to both men and women.”

Science has a long list of women who have made important contributions to STEM. Aside from Curie, Nobel laureates include biochemist Gertrude Elion and scientist Barbara McClintock.

Goddard, with more than 20 years’ experience in the life sciences industry and many more years of important work in front of her, is following in the footsteps of these great names.