International Day of Women and Girls in Science – in conversation with Jacqueline De Lora

Jacqueline De Lora is a postdoc in the lab of Joachim Spatz at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Germany. Born and raised in New Mexico, USA, she completed her PhD in biomedical Sciences at the University of New Mexico, with a focus on biomedical engineering. One of Jacqueline’s main activities is to develop new microfluidic devices that uses acoustic vibrations.

What motivated you to do research?

Wanting to better understand life and how biology works motivated me to do research, along with having mentors who inspired me to ask questions.

How do your family/friends view your career choice?

My family and friends think that being a scientist is really interesting but also very unique as I am the only person many of them know as a scientist.

In your opinion, what changes, if any, are needed in the scientific system to be more attractive to women?

I think the more women in leadership positions, the more attractive it will be for a women to become a scientist as younger generations will have more relatable role models laying out clear paths to science and research.