STEM=Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics

Meredith Calvert

STEM means science, technology, engineering, and math. In general I think it’s you know, a sort of broad feel that defines anywhere where we still have questions to ask about the world around us.

Robert Thorne

Why is STEM outreach important for a company like Denali, why now? I think that it’s well appreciated that not everyone is represented properly in science 

Tanya Weerakody

And there’s a gap in the access to both knowledge and also opportunities in STEM, and so I think it’s really the responsibility of all scientists and medical professionals to help bridge that.

Robert Thorne

The basic idea behind it is to get more young people from all different backgrounds interested in careers in science. And if we do that successfully then we address the pipeline, we have more people, you know from all different backgrounds that we can recruit and and have part of our companies, and ultimately progress and get into higher positions -  and that’s something that would be incredibly valuable.

Sonnet Davis

And then science is such a big part of everyone’s life in general, all races, all sexes.

Science is something that involves everyone’s life, we all should be involved.

Tanya Weerakody

But it’s pretty nebulous in terms of what someone can do with the science education and what that can translate to, myself included. I don’t  think I really knew of careers outside of medicine and research at the time, and so just understanding all these alternative career paths and also the trajectory to get there.

Sonnet Davis

To me I think that it’s hard for people to aspire to things they don’t necessarily see, so to reach back and to just plant the seed of aspiration so people, individuals or students can actually aspire to be you know, a scientist is such a big deal.

Meredith Calvert

It’s a field where having diverse viewpoints, having diverse backgrounds is extremely valuable.

I think creative thinking…thinking outside the box, this what advances science, and this is something we can only get by welcoming people from diverse backgrounds.

Robert Thorne

So that’s what we’re trying to do is basically go out and share our story, and also you know, communicate and educate on the questions that we think are really important at the Denali; solving neurodegeneration, creating new therapies where they have not existed before.