I took a very long time to decide what career I wanted to pursue, mainly because I liked many of the subjects I took at school and then at university. It was a very broad selection, from chemistry through to gender politics and anthropology. I remember thinking from an early age that I wanted my career to be something that would make a difference in the world, but I had no idea how I could achieve that.

The decision to focus on chemistry as a career happened very suddenly after a third-year subject where I got to experience research work for the first time. I loved the creativity of research, the ability to find out things that no-one else in the world knew –

it was like being an explorer. This mindset had a huge impact on me and I still tell my students today that it’s important to be creative and try crazy things as you just never know what might work. I continued my growth as a researcher through completing a Ph.D. and then running my own research team at the University of Melbourne. My area of research is how we can design drugs better through the use of smart containers. These containers can deliver drugs to target regions in the body and release them in a controlled way, thus improving the activity of many drugs and reducing side effects. I am passionate about the impact this research could have on the world – we have already seen the use of containers in COVID vaccines.

At many stages along the way I have felt like an impostor. Was someone going to work out that I didn’t deserve to be here, as I wasn’t smart or skilled enough? This feeling is something that is all too familiar for women and girls and I am sorry to say it doesn’t go away. Every time you take on more responsibility or step into a leadership role, it comes back with a vengeance.

But I have learnt to love that feeling, as the scariest opportunities I have received – where I was sure I was going to be dragged out of the room at any moment – have also been the most rewarding and the best for my personal growth. So, I say take the leap and go for it.

My career has now come full circle, and looking back, I realise that the seemingly random subjects I studied at university, such

as gender politics, were all incredibly relevant. I was asked about five years ago to take a leadership role in the university that focused on improving diversity and inclusion within higher education. While there has been a lot of progress in this area, there are still fewer women than men in higher levels of academia and this is similar for other groups such as LGBTQIA+ people, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and communities with lived experience of disability. I have the role of developing programs to support greater access for these communities and improving visibility of diverse role models.

The reality is, we can’t ever know the impact we might have on other people and their achievements, especially when you have the privilege of talking to hundreds of young people each year like I do. One of the great things about being an academic is that I don’t have to decide how I am going to make a difference. I get to teach students, I get to do research, and I get to be involved in university management – and I put my all into all of that. Somewhere along the way I hope I am inspiring change.


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