Women scientists are overcoming barriers and dedicating their lives to science

Publicity

They moved to other cities, faced challenges, made difficult choices, and today they dedicate their lives to the world of health science. Three scientists from Grupo Sabin’s Genomics area tell their stories.

The Importance of a Strong Support Network

The girl who loved to play in the streets where she grew up in Recife, Pernambuco State with her sisters, was always encouraged by her parents to study. It was also at that time that Nara Diniz understood that a woman could secure her own space and went out searching for hers. Even teenage pregnancy did not stop her from persisting in her goals. As she was passionate for science, she went on to study biology and, with the support of her whole family, she was able to combine studies and motherhood and get a postdoctoral degree. “I’m a woman, I’m a young mother, I’m from the Brazilian Northeast. I’m a living proof that if you want to, if you persist, if you pursue knowledge, you can find your place in science. “Now, science will never leave me”, Nara emphasizes. 

The challenge of reconciling work and study

Ilária Sgardioli and her brother are from Americana, in upstate São Paulo, and were the first in the family to earn a higher education degree. She started working at age 14 to help pay for her studies and has always had to combine work and study to achieve her goals and reach the universe of science. Today, she recognizes that all the effort was worth it. “There were great researchers in science who paved the way for us to be able to work in it. When I enrolled at Unicamp [university], I had a female advisor and most people in the area were also women. And here at Sabin, employees are predominantly women, our space here is a reality”, Ilária celebrates.

The value of her dream

As a girl, Rosenelle Benicio, now newly married, saw her mother’s efforts to resume her studies after motherhood, and it was with her that she learned the value of her dreams and the importance of not giving up on them. Now, Rosenelle is a medical geneticist. “People think that geneticists are like lab animals and that they don’t provide any care to patients, but that’s not the case. I followed patients with rare diseases, and what I liked most was to seek answers, discover paths, and bring a diagnosis. Exercising science in clinical practice”, she comments. At Grupo Sabin, stories like these are no exception, the company has a female soul and 74% of its staff is made up of women, all the way up to the senior leadership roles. “They represent more than women’s strength, they also represent health care and quality of life for current and future generations”, Grupo Sabin President, Lídia Abdalla, points out.